NC Secretary of State candidate Chad Brown (10-14-2024--Hour1)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:29] I'm sorry I could not join you on Friday, but I had an appearance to make down in Georgia. And I got to fill up the young skulls of mush.

[00:00:42] Now, I went and did an appearance at a couple of classrooms. And yes, they let me speak in front of students. It's crazy.

[00:00:53] And so just talking about media and, you know, the American system and such. By the way, a reminder that early in-person voting starts this week.

[00:01:08] Thursday, October 17th. Early in-person voting. There are a whole bunch of races on the ballot.

[00:01:18] Obviously, president. House of Representatives. So your congressional races. We also have the Council of State races like governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, attorney general, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner, insurance commissioner, state senate, state representatives.

[00:01:41] We got the judge races for state Supreme Court, court of appeals, superior court, district court. Those are all local.

[00:01:48] We have the DA race, county commissioners, clerk of superior court and register of deeds.

[00:01:56] So there are a ton of races on the ballot. You can pull your sample ballot at the Board of Elections website and see SBE and type in your address and you'll get your sample ballot.

[00:02:10] So you'll know what races, you know, what your particular district, you know, members of Congress and state Senate and state house and all of that.

[00:02:18] It's all there. Here with us now is Chad Brown. He is a candidate, a Republican for the secretary of state.

[00:02:28] That is one of the Council of State races. We welcome back to the program.

[00:02:31] Chad, how are you, sir? I'm doing great, Pete. Thank you for having me on today.

[00:02:36] Yes, sir. Thanks for making some time for us. So how goes the the campaign trail?

[00:02:42] It is long. When I say long, we're over 300 hours of driving to speak less than two hours.

[00:02:50] We were in western North Carolina this morning and now we're coming back and we'll be in Raleigh tonight and come home and then back to Raleigh.

[00:02:57] So we're we're on the tour. Yeah. So we're in whereabouts in western North Carolina.

[00:03:02] Did you make it? We were in Marion this morning there in McDowell County.

[00:03:08] I went and did a radio show there. So we were very fortunate to do that.

[00:03:12] So now it's just a it's just a great day to be with you.

[00:03:15] So what specific you're not the incumbent, obviously, the incumbent is Elaine Marshall.

[00:03:23] I think she's been in that seat since like the 1700s or something.

[00:03:27] No, I'm kidding. But no, she's been there a while and since 1996.

[00:03:33] And you have mentioned that you want to, I think you said, modernize the secretary of state's office.

[00:03:39] So first, tell us, what is the secretary of state's office do and then how do you want to modernize it?

[00:03:46] Well, I think when you look at what's happening in government, the secretary of state's office is the business center of the secretary of North Carolina.

[00:03:56] It's essentially regulated securities. It protects investors, promotes fair, secure financial market.

[00:04:02] But basically, when you think about anything has to do with business, LLC, S-corps, people who are intellectual properties, notaries have to register there.

[00:04:13] So there's so many things that happen. The problem is we have a cumbersome system.

[00:04:17] It takes 14 weeks to do an LLC right now, but you can expedite it for $250.

[00:04:22] That's just wrong to the citizen and to the business minded person.

[00:04:26] If we can do it for $250 extra quickly, we should be able to do it the first time quickly as well.

[00:04:32] So that's some of the thing. I want to cut the red tape.

[00:04:34] I want to make sure that we do the things that have to be done to work with that entrepreneur hand in glove.

[00:04:39] Because a lot of people are doing first time business transactions, don't just know how to go out and figure out what financial institution,

[00:04:47] what CPA you need to use, what all these different pieces of the puzzle.

[00:04:50] But we need to provide help with those entrepreneurs.

[00:04:54] And I'm willing to work hand in hand on walking you through the system to get it done.

[00:05:02] So what's the modernization component involved?

[00:05:06] Is there like some new technology or software or something?

[00:05:08] I've gone through the LLC process.

[00:05:10] I don't even think I was aware that I, because I know I paid.

[00:05:14] So I guess I paid to have it expedited.

[00:05:18] I don't know.

[00:05:18] I know it costs me money and it costs me money every single year to, you know, refile my paperwork.

[00:05:24] That's right.

[00:05:25] Yeah.

[00:05:25] And it's not exactly user friendly or intuitive, this stuff.

[00:05:30] Like if you're trying to change your address and that kind of thing, some of that stuff, it's just not intuitive.

[00:05:37] Exactly.

[00:05:38] So the problem is right now, if you want to change the light bulb on your car, you go to YouTube, you figure out how you do it.

[00:05:43] We shouldn't have to make people go to YouTube or any other place.

[00:05:46] We should be able to come to North Carolina, go to the website and say, hey, I want to make sure I help a small business owner be able to change an address.

[00:05:55] We should be able to have it hands on with that, not trying.

[00:05:59] But I also want to do a hub and spoke system to where when you think about the hub and spoke system of this modernization, if you're a small business, I use it this morning, a handbag maker.

[00:06:11] And you need to know who the leather goods person is.

[00:06:14] You need to know who the stamper is or who the die maker, all these different intervals of what's happening.

[00:06:20] We want to put those people together in a silo, let them work together so you don't have to go overseas or outside or wherever.

[00:06:27] We need to go different places.

[00:06:29] We do it inside of North Carolina.

[00:06:30] And we're not doing that.

[00:06:34] Your opponent, the incumbent Elaine Marshall, I saw an interview with her the other day where she was talking about a focus on rural development.

[00:06:45] So as you understand what she's talking about, is that something that you feel is lacking that needs to be addressed?

[00:06:54] If so, how?

[00:06:56] Well, I find it funny.

[00:06:58] We talked about that same initiative back in 2020, and that's where I think a lot of that came.

[00:07:04] But I laugh because now that does need to be put in place.

[00:07:08] We do need rural infrastructure.

[00:07:09] But here's the thing.

[00:07:10] If you're in Marion, North Carolina, I used it this morning.

[00:07:13] Do you know that every baseball, the red thread on a baseball for every major league baseball comes out of Marion, North Carolina?

[00:07:20] Why are we using Indonesia for the baseball itself?

[00:07:23] Why not put a plant and try to make those people married?

[00:07:25] If that thread's going to come out of there, 90% of that baseball is made right there in Marion, North Carolina, Coats America.

[00:07:35] The problem is it's put together and manufactured overseas.

[00:07:39] And that's the problem we have.

[00:07:41] We need to make sure we use these things and we shuttle them to each other and make it friendly to be doing business with a like business, a friend, inside your own hometown.

[00:07:51] So does that speak to just the economics of the marketplace where, I mean, it's pretty amazing to me to think, but where it's actually cheaper for the business to send the thread from North Carolina all the way overseas with the leather and then bring it back?

[00:08:11] Is that something that government can even control for it?

[00:08:14] It's the market we have, an economy.

[00:08:16] But the problem is if we can incentivize people to do things differently and help with the General Assembly to say, hey, let's figure out a way we can make sure that these companies don't have to send it overseas.

[00:08:26] We can do it right here.

[00:08:28] We're already making the 90% of it is made.

[00:08:31] The only piece that's not made in North Carolina for a professional baseball is the rubber core of it itself.

[00:08:37] So that's how different it is.

[00:08:39] Even the glue is made out of the tree sap in North Carolina.

[00:08:44] All right.

[00:08:45] So are you focusing on baseball here because you were a baseball player?

[00:08:50] Is that – am I sensing a connection here?

[00:08:53] It's just the way I use the handbag when I was trying to appeal to female voters.

[00:08:59] But one of the things that happened, baseball was my life, and I love that life, and we use it a lot.

[00:09:06] The biggest thing is we have a baseball card out with different people along our journey.

[00:09:11] So there's going to be one with J.D. Vance.

[00:09:13] There's one with Donald Trump.

[00:09:14] There's one with Mark Robinson.

[00:09:17] Entrepreneurs across the way.

[00:09:18] We've made baseball cards in order to get our message out because people do think it's different, so we're just trying to change things.

[00:09:25] And that's what we want to do with the Secretary of State.

[00:09:26] We want to make it different for every individual, for your business.

[00:09:31] We make it special.

[00:09:32] Yeah.

[00:09:33] So for folks who aren't aware, Chad Brown was drafted by the Cleveland – I guess they're the Guardians.

[00:09:39] Oh, so they did pretty well.

[00:09:40] So are you pulling for the Guardians in the postseason now?

[00:09:43] Do you feel like you have to pull for them, or are you going with somebody else?

[00:09:48] Well, it's sad to say I got drafted out of high school by the Guardians.

[00:09:51] I turned it down to go to college.

[00:09:53] So after that, I got drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays.

[00:09:55] I signed with them later with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

[00:09:57] So my money right now is probably going to be on the Dodgers to win it all, but I do like the Guardians in order to pull off a small market team.

[00:10:06] There you go.

[00:10:07] All right, Chad Brown, where do people go to find more information about you and your candidacy?

[00:10:12] www.electchadbrown.com or Facebook.

[00:10:15] You can go to any of the social media sites, Chad Brown for Secretary of State.

[00:10:18] Thank you so much, Pete, for having me on today.

[00:10:20] It's a pleasure just to be back with you.

[00:10:22] Yes, sir.

[00:10:23] Thanks for making the time.

[00:10:24] Safe travels to you.

[00:10:24] Good luck on the campaign trail.

[00:10:26] Thank you.

[00:10:27] Bye-bye.

[00:10:27] All right.

[00:10:27] Take care.

[00:10:29] Oh, sorry.

[00:10:30] There we go.

[00:10:31] Wrong button.

[00:10:31] I'm out of practice.

[00:10:33] I take one day off.

[00:10:34] I forget where the mic button is.

[00:10:36] My bad.

[00:10:36] That's Chad Brown, candidate for Secretary of State of North Carolina.

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[00:11:43] All right.

[00:11:44] So I mentioned – hang on a second.

[00:11:45] Let me give you some of the other details on the upcoming election here.

[00:11:50] As I mentioned, some of the races that are up on the ballot.

[00:11:53] We've also got voter guides that are available, the judicial voter guide that's available over at the Board of Elections.

[00:12:00] So October 17th, in-person early voting begins.

[00:12:04] And same-day voter registration is available on that during the early voting.

[00:12:10] And the absentee ballot request deadline is 5 p.m. on October 29th.

[00:12:19] So if you want to vote absentee and mail it in, you have to make your request by October 29th, 5 p.m.

[00:12:31] In-person early voting will run until November 2nd.

[00:12:35] And then November 5th is Election Day.

[00:12:41] The absentee ballot return deadline is 7.30 p.m. on Election Day.

[00:12:46] That is a new change.

[00:12:48] So if you are mailing your ballots, make sure you mail them early enough so they get there to the Board of Elections to be counted.

[00:12:55] No more of this, you know, oh, well, I postmarked it, you know, two minutes before the polls close.

[00:13:04] None of that anymore.

[00:13:05] It's got to be in the Board of Elections office to be counted by the close of polls on Election Day.

[00:13:14] So we talked to Chad Brown there.

[00:13:16] He is running against Democrats Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.

[00:13:19] She was first elected in 1996.

[00:13:22] And she beat, at the time, Richard Petty.

[00:13:28] This would be her eighth term.

[00:13:33] Let's see.

[00:13:34] She made history 28 years ago, becoming not only the first woman to win Secretary of State,

[00:13:39] but also to win a statewide executive office.

[00:13:42] She runs on a record of cutting costs to do business, free enterprise, and capital formation.

[00:13:49] She also votes with the governor on all of the Council of State issues.

[00:13:54] And that's the thing, too.

[00:13:55] Council of State, a lot of people were not aware of a lot of the functions that the Council of State does.

[00:14:02] And most of the time, you don't even really notice the stuff.

[00:14:06] It's not, you know, it's not of huge import.

[00:14:10] However, during COVID, a lot of people started realizing that the Council of State races are pretty important

[00:14:19] because when the governor wants to do stuff, he goes to the Council of State.

[00:14:25] And right now, the Republicans control the majority.

[00:14:28] There are 10 seats that comprise the Council of State.

[00:14:33] These are all the statewide elected offices.

[00:14:36] I ran through them earlier, you know, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, superintendent,

[00:14:44] attorney general, commissioners of agriculture, labor, insurance.

[00:14:49] And those 10 seats right now, six of them are held by Republicans.

[00:14:55] Four Democrats.

[00:14:56] Four Democrats.

[00:14:58] And so when, remember, Governor Cooper initially wanted to do his emergency declaration, or as I call it, Governor Cooper's ED.

[00:15:08] When he wanted to do that, he wanted to start shutting stuff down.

[00:15:14] And he initially sent out an email to all of the Council of State members, and the Republicans started pushing back saying,

[00:15:21] we don't think it's a good idea to start shutting down all of the businesses.

[00:15:26] And rather than wait for that official vote and disapproval, he just went ahead and issued the thing anyway.

[00:15:34] So, Council of State races matter.

[00:15:43] Also, I know I was away on Friday, but, man, the vice president is not having a good week.

[00:15:52] I think it might have something to do with her interviews that she's been doing.

[00:15:57] As soon as she goes out there and starts sitting down and chatting with people and going off the cuff,

[00:16:04] it doesn't seem like that's her strong suit.

[00:16:07] Were you aware of that?

[00:16:09] Have you noticed this?

[00:16:11] Apparently, it's not so great.

[00:16:12] And also, there are tensions between the Biden folks and the Harris folks, which tends to happen, I think,

[00:16:23] after you stage a mutiny or a coup against the boss.

[00:16:26] The boss tends to not like you, and the people that like the boss more than you, they don't like you either.

[00:16:32] And then your people that work for you have to deal with the boss's staffers,

[00:16:38] and so there may be some hard feelings.

[00:16:40] And by maybe, I mean definitely.

[00:16:43] Definitely some hard feelings.

[00:16:45] Axios did a story about it.

[00:16:48] Axios.com.

[00:16:50] And they interviewed 10 people familiar with the situation, so I don't know what that means.

[00:16:57] 10 people familiar with the situation.

[00:17:00] So I don't even know if they're directly involved.

[00:17:03] I don't know if they work for either of these candidates or the officials,

[00:17:07] you know, president or vice president, or if they're campaign people,

[00:17:10] or maybe it's just a friend of a campaign staffer,

[00:17:12] and the friend got drunk and was spilling the tea.

[00:17:15] I don't know.

[00:17:16] They're just 10 people familiar with the situation.

[00:17:19] But Axios felt it credible enough to tell us,

[00:17:23] so I'll tell you about the tensions.

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[00:18:40] All right, so I mentioned Axios has the story,

[00:18:45] Tensions Rise Between Harris and Biden Teams as Election Nears.

[00:18:50] It's a piece by Alex Thompson.

[00:18:54] He says,

[00:18:54] The relationship between Kamala Harris's team and Joe Biden's White House

[00:18:58] has been increasingly fraught in the final weeks before election day.

[00:19:03] Ten people familiar with the situation tell Axios.

[00:19:08] No idea who they are.

[00:19:09] Biden's team wants Harris to win the election,

[00:19:12] but many senior Biden aides,

[00:19:16] they aren't,

[00:19:17] aren't all Biden aides senior.

[00:19:20] Am I right?

[00:19:21] Am I right?

[00:19:22] I kid.

[00:19:23] I kid.

[00:19:24] It's just the president.

[00:19:25] Oh,

[00:19:25] I saw him getting walked up to the podium too for a,

[00:19:29] for some comments where he said,

[00:19:31] and like this woman had to like walk him all the way,

[00:19:35] like had her,

[00:19:36] her hand under his arm,

[00:19:40] like in the elbow crook,

[00:19:41] you know,

[00:19:42] there,

[00:19:42] I don't know why they call it a crook or crick.

[00:19:45] No,

[00:19:45] a crick is in the neck.

[00:19:47] Yeah.

[00:19:48] But like,

[00:19:49] like walking him up as he's just kind of trudging along to get to the podium.

[00:19:53] He's looking very bad.

[00:19:56] By the way,

[00:19:56] who's the president right now?

[00:19:57] Anyway.

[00:19:58] Okay.

[00:19:58] So Biden's team wants Harris to win,

[00:20:01] but a lot of them remain wounded by the president being pushed out of his

[00:20:06] reelection bid and are still adjusting to being in a supporting role on the

[00:20:11] campaign trail.

[00:20:12] Well,

[00:20:12] I mean,

[00:20:12] it's only been,

[00:20:13] uh,

[00:20:14] carry the six.

[00:20:15] That's it's only been like nine weeks,

[00:20:18] right?

[00:20:21] One close Harris ally said of the president's team,

[00:20:26] quote,

[00:20:27] they're too much in their feelings.

[00:20:31] When did this become a,

[00:20:32] when did this become a phrase?

[00:20:34] By the way,

[00:20:35] they're all in their fields,

[00:20:37] all in their feelings.

[00:20:39] I hate it.

[00:20:40] They're in their feeling.

[00:20:41] No,

[00:20:42] they're obsessing.

[00:20:43] That's what that is.

[00:20:44] Ruminating is what that is called.

[00:20:46] Ruminating.

[00:20:47] They're all in your feelings.

[00:20:49] Self-centered narcissist.

[00:20:51] Anyway,

[00:20:51] sentiment shared even by some white house aides.

[00:20:54] Some on the Harris team say that top white house aides are not sufficiently

[00:20:58] coordinating Biden's messaging and schedule to align with what's best for

[00:21:05] the veeps campaign.

[00:21:07] So this is a reaction to last week.

[00:21:11] We saw it happen a couple of times where Harris goes on like the view,

[00:21:15] right?

[00:21:15] She goes on to that TV show,

[00:21:17] make some really stupid remarks.

[00:21:19] But the president comes out and does some other thing where he makes some stupid remarks

[00:21:24] and he upstages her.

[00:21:26] People cut away from her appearance to go cover his.

[00:21:31] And people are like,

[00:21:32] Oh,

[00:21:32] do you think it's because Biden wants her to lose?

[00:21:34] Like,

[00:21:35] I don't know.

[00:21:36] That's possible.

[00:21:37] But then again,

[00:21:38] nobody's watching her.

[00:21:40] That could be helping her,

[00:21:42] right?

[00:21:44] Biden gave an impromptu press conference in the White House briefing room Friday,

[00:21:50] just as Harris was about to do an event in Michigan,

[00:21:53] ensuring that her event would get less TV coverage than it otherwise would have.

[00:21:57] Earlier in the week,

[00:21:59] you'll recall Harris criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for not taking her call about the recent hurricanes.

[00:22:06] Only for Joe Biden to turn around and praise DeSantis soon after for being gracious and cooperative.

[00:22:14] Now,

[00:22:15] a person familiar with the situation told Axios that Biden had not been briefed on Harris's comments.

[00:22:23] So nobody told Joe,

[00:22:25] like,

[00:22:25] Hey,

[00:22:26] we're going with this narrative that DeSantis isn't working with.

[00:22:29] They're not taking our phone calls.

[00:22:31] So they didn't know.

[00:22:32] And that's why they went out there and,

[00:22:34] you know,

[00:22:35] had the,

[00:22:36] the,

[00:22:36] the gaffe as,

[00:22:38] uh,

[00:22:38] is known in,

[00:22:39] in Washington speak is when you inadvertently tell the truth about something.

[00:22:45] So he apparently went out there and was like,

[00:22:47] Oh,

[00:22:47] it's fine.

[00:22:49] And everyone's like,

[00:22:50] Oh my gosh,

[00:22:50] why would you do that?

[00:22:52] You're big footing her message,

[00:22:54] which by the way,

[00:22:56] Reince Priebus,

[00:22:57] remember that guy,

[00:22:58] Reince Priebus,

[00:22:59] the man with the funny name who ran the Republican party for a couple of years.

[00:23:03] He was over on,

[00:23:04] I think it was ABC and well here,

[00:23:08] listen for yourself.

[00:23:09] I mean,

[00:23:10] the reality is,

[00:23:11] is that for the first time in 32 years in this poll,

[00:23:13] it shows that Republicans are beating Democrats straight up,

[00:23:17] uh,

[00:23:19] when you ask people a generic ballot in 32 years,

[00:23:22] it shows that Donald Trump's doing better with black voters,

[00:23:25] Hispanic voters off the charts.

[00:23:26] But what the most important thing is what happened last week is that what was working with female voters with Kamala Harris was that there was some feeling of joy in the air.

[00:23:36] Well,

[00:23:36] that joy is gone.

[00:23:38] She had a terrible week.

[00:23:39] She picked a pointless fight with Ron DeSantis.

[00:23:41] Right.

[00:23:42] She,

[00:23:42] uh,

[00:23:42] you know,

[00:23:43] she was losing in the sunbelt and she tried to recover by going on the view,

[00:23:47] which a lot of women watch.

[00:23:48] She went on the view.

[00:23:50] You talked about it earlier.

[00:23:51] And she wanted to clarify the two most important issues that are facing these two candidates,

[00:23:57] the economy and immigration.

[00:23:59] And she bombed like Rory at the U S open.

[00:24:03] And she went out there and said,

[00:24:04] there was nothing she would do that would be different than Joe Biden.

[00:24:09] And she created a campaign commercial for Donald Trump.

[00:24:13] And so she's trying to recover.

[00:24:16] There is no joy in here.

[00:24:17] And everybody knows it.

[00:24:20] And it's obvious that there is a leak in the balloon here in the Kamala Harris campaign.

[00:24:26] Did you hear Martha Raddatz there?

[00:24:29] He created a couple too.

[00:24:32] Talk about what about ism.

[00:24:34] Holy cow.

[00:24:35] That's not an argument.

[00:24:36] He's talking about Kamala Harris's poor performance in the past week.

[00:24:42] And your only response is,

[00:24:44] Hey,

[00:24:45] what about Donald Trump?

[00:24:47] What about him?

[00:24:49] Everybody knows who the guy is.

[00:24:51] It's all baked into the cake already.

[00:24:55] There isn't anything new about Donald Trump that people are not aware of.

[00:24:59] People know who he is.

[00:25:01] There's no,

[00:25:01] he doesn't have to,

[00:25:03] he doesn't have to brand himself as anything.

[00:25:05] Everybody already knows his brand for good or bad.

[00:25:09] Biden has been eager to boast about a robust jobs report,

[00:25:14] helping to end the strike by the longshoreman's union and other perceived victories.

[00:25:19] Recently,

[00:25:20] Harris though,

[00:25:20] has been trying to focus on voters pocketbook concerns,

[00:25:23] concerns,

[00:25:24] including inflation.

[00:25:25] And that's a tough one.

[00:25:26] That's a tough one.

[00:25:27] She was asked about it at a,

[00:25:28] uh,

[00:25:29] um,

[00:25:30] I don't know what the,

[00:25:31] it was like a town hall and it was for,

[00:25:34] uh,

[00:25:34] I guess a Spanish speaking station or something,

[00:25:37] maybe Univision or something.

[00:25:38] And I just caught the clip of it,

[00:25:40] uh,

[00:25:40] where,

[00:25:41] you know,

[00:25:41] this woman is like,

[00:25:42] I used to spend $250 a week in groceries and now it's $350 a week.

[00:25:46] What are you going to do to,

[00:25:47] to solve this problem?

[00:25:48] And she's like,

[00:25:50] well,

[00:25:50] I come from a working class family,

[00:25:52] which that's a new,

[00:25:54] that's a new line.

[00:25:55] It was middle class before.

[00:25:57] Now it's working class,

[00:26:00] right?

[00:26:00] Now it's a working class family.

[00:26:02] And at this rate,

[00:26:03] I mean,

[00:26:03] the next thing we're going to find out is she grew up a poor sharecropper in

[00:26:07] Mississippi or something like that.

[00:26:12] Like Steve Martin.

[00:26:13] So when I was a kid,

[00:26:14] my grandpa died with Alzheimer's and before he died,

[00:26:17] my mom and my dad and all of us really helped take care of him as he got

[00:26:20] progressively worse.

[00:26:22] 40 years ago,

[00:26:23] there were no treatments and not much support for caregivers and family.

[00:26:27] Things are different today because of the work of so many people,

[00:26:30] including the Alzheimer's association of Western North Carolina,

[00:26:33] it's a great organization with awesome people.

[00:26:36] They've got huge hearts.

[00:26:37] I've been a supporter for like 25 years.

[00:26:39] This cause means a lot to me.

[00:26:41] I participate in the annual walk to end Alzheimer's and I am leading a

[00:26:46] Charlotte team this year.

[00:26:47] It's called Pete's pack.

[00:26:48] You can sign up and join the team and walk with me.

[00:26:51] It's on October 19th at Truist field in Uptown,

[00:26:55] sign up at ALZ.org slash walk.

[00:26:58] And then just look for my team,

[00:26:59] Pete's pack.

[00:27:00] And there's also a link in the podcast description here.

[00:27:02] Also,

[00:27:03] I'm going to be emceeing the Gastonia walk on October 5th.

[00:27:06] So make a team and join us or make a donation to help me hit my goal.

[00:27:10] I would really appreciate it.

[00:27:11] There are a bunch of other walks around the Carolinas and you can go to

[00:27:15] ALZ.org for all of the dates and locations.

[00:27:18] We are closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer's.

[00:27:22] And if you can help us get there,

[00:27:24] we would really appreciate it.

[00:27:26] Will you come walk with me for a different future for families,

[00:27:29] for more time,

[00:27:30] for treatments?

[00:27:31] This is why I walk.

[00:27:33] Email is Pete at the Pete calendar show.com.

[00:27:36] Um,

[00:27:38] um,

[00:27:39] the Harris staffers and the Biden staffers not happy with each other.

[00:27:44] There's suspicion.

[00:27:46] There's tensions between the two camps because obviously the Biden staffers,

[00:27:51] they're a teensy weensy bit,

[00:27:53] you know,

[00:27:54] nonplussed,

[00:27:55] shall we say about their boss getting booted in a mutiny by Obama and

[00:28:01] Pelosi with the help of the,

[00:28:04] uh,

[00:28:05] Kamala Harris crew.

[00:28:07] Biden,

[00:28:10] went around talking about all his,

[00:28:12] you know,

[00:28:12] look at all the jobs and we're doing really good and all of this stuff.

[00:28:15] And meanwhile,

[00:28:17] Kamala Harris is out there focusing on the pocketbook issues and I'm going to

[00:28:22] make things better.

[00:28:23] But then Biden's like,

[00:28:24] I've already made things better.

[00:28:26] And then she's like,

[00:28:28] I'm responsible for that too,

[00:28:29] but we're totally going to change it.

[00:28:30] It's the same,

[00:28:31] but different.

[00:28:33] One person involved with Harris's campaign told axios.com quote,

[00:28:38] the white house is lacking someone in the room thinking first and foremost

[00:28:42] about how things would affect the campaign.

[00:28:46] Oh,

[00:28:46] you mean they don't care about checking in with you,

[00:28:50] the veeps campaign before they do stuff.

[00:28:53] Oh,

[00:28:54] that's thanks for you.

[00:28:56] The tensions have played out on the staff level.

[00:28:58] Harris's team has been trying to add staff to the vice president's official

[00:29:02] office to handle the bigger workload.

[00:29:05] But it's been frustrated at the white house's pace in getting people detailed

[00:29:11] for that.

[00:29:11] According to two people familiar with the matter.

[00:29:14] Oh,

[00:29:14] okay.

[00:29:15] Well then,

[00:29:15] so it's not just,

[00:29:16] it's not just Trump's campaign and their request for additional security detail.

[00:29:22] For example,

[00:29:24] the Biden camp is also slow walking Harris's requests for more,

[00:29:28] for more staff.

[00:29:30] Okay.

[00:29:31] Several Biden aides have joined Harris's campaign,

[00:29:34] but some feel like they have been labeled as disloyal by Biden's team for leaving or even

[00:29:41] considering it.

[00:29:42] Oh my gosh.

[00:29:42] There's just so many political angles here.

[00:29:45] So many different dynamics.

[00:29:47] You're working for Joe.

[00:29:48] You're the guy in charge of picking out the ice cream flavors.

[00:29:51] And then all of a sudden it's like,

[00:29:52] Hey,

[00:29:53] everyone's moving over to Kamala's camp.

[00:29:55] And then you're like,

[00:29:56] okay,

[00:29:56] well,

[00:29:56] I guess I got to make the jump.

[00:29:57] And then you jump over there.

[00:29:58] But some of your old pals are like,

[00:29:59] well,

[00:29:59] who's going to pick out the ice cream now?

[00:30:01] And they're like,

[00:30:01] you left us,

[00:30:02] you're picking her ice cream.

[00:30:04] And now everyone's mad at you.

[00:30:06] Oh man,

[00:30:06] what a mess.

[00:30:08] On Harris's campaign.

[00:30:10] There is also awkwardness.

[00:30:14] That should actually just be the end of the sentence there.

[00:30:16] But,

[00:30:16] uh,

[00:30:17] they say between some awkwardness between some who were on Biden's original campaign staff and the

[00:30:22] Harris allies who have been installed,

[00:30:25] in recent weeks.

[00:30:27] Right?

[00:30:28] So people who were on Biden's original team that have gone over to the Harris camp,

[00:30:35] but then the Harris camp has added more people in.

[00:30:38] And so like the Biden people feel like they should have seniority,

[00:30:42] you know,

[00:30:43] they should get,

[00:30:44] you know,

[00:30:45] they should get the better assignments,

[00:30:46] like picking out the ice cream flavors and such,

[00:30:49] or maybe advising on which,

[00:30:51] you know,

[00:30:51] records to purchase at the appropriate record shop for the photo op,

[00:30:56] that kind of thing.

[00:30:57] But they're getting passed over for the newbies.

[00:31:01] Some on Harris's team.

[00:31:02] Oh,

[00:31:03] hang on.

[00:31:03] Let me back up.

[00:31:04] Uh,

[00:31:04] in the weeks after Harris became the democratic nominee,

[00:31:07] there were squabbles about whether Biden's main surrogates on TV would continue in those roles,

[00:31:14] or if new faces would emerge.

[00:31:17] Harris's team prevailed and new surrogates began appearing frequently.

[00:31:23] So now they've,

[00:31:25] they've swapped out Harris for,

[00:31:28] well,

[00:31:29] Harris for Biden.

[00:31:30] They did that already,

[00:31:30] but they're also now doing it with her staffers too.

[00:31:34] The new arrivals are supplanting the Biden staffers.

[00:31:39] Some on the Harris team are also kind of suspicious of the Biden campaign crew that they are now working with.

[00:31:48] After all,

[00:31:49] Biden's team was publicly arguing that vice president Harris was less electable than Joe.

[00:31:58] So,

[00:31:58] yeah,

[00:32:00] yeah.

[00:32:00] They kind of remember that because it was a low those many weeks ago,

[00:32:04] like about nine when they were saying she is not a good candidate.

[00:32:08] She's unelectable.

[00:32:10] Don't swap out for her.

[00:32:11] She's not going to win.

[00:32:12] And then they swapped out and then they're like,

[00:32:14] can I come work for you,

[00:32:16] please?

[00:32:17] So they're viewed as the kids would say.

[00:32:19] They were a little sus.

[00:32:21] They're a little sus.

[00:32:22] And I get it.

[00:32:24] Despite the sore feelings among some Biden aides,

[00:32:27] much of the president's staff is actively rooting for her and trying to work towards a Harris victory.

[00:32:33] There is frustration about coordination among senior staffers on both sides,

[00:32:37] but a lot of the mid-level staff is working well together,

[00:32:40] said people familiar with the dynamic.

[00:32:43] The White House denied that there is tensions among senior staffers.

[00:32:48] But remember,

[00:32:48] the White House will lie to you.

[00:32:50] All right.

[00:32:50] That'll do it for this episode.

[00:32:52] Thank you so much for listening.

[00:32:53] I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast.

[00:32:59] So if you'd like,

[00:33:00] please support them,

[00:33:00] too,

[00:33:01] and tell them you heard it here.

[00:33:02] You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalendershow.com.

[00:33:07] Again,

[00:33:08] thank you so much for listening.

[00:33:09] And don't break anything while I'm gone.