Celebrating Courage, the Strength of Community Ties and the Insights from Nancy Tong

The clip episode showcases the transformative experience of attending the Democratic National Convention, intertwined with personal stories and insights from Nancy Tong about Kamala Harris's remarkable journey. 

Themes of leadership, community support, and the potential for change highlight the importance of participation in the political process. 

• Personal reflections on attending the DNC 
• Kamala Harris's inspiring career journey 
• Governor Walz's leadership and community involvement 
• The importance of community support in politics 
• Historical perspectives on leadership transitions 
• Empowerment and representation in the Democratic Party 
• Building the Democratic presence in Nebraska 
• Friendship dynamics and personal anecdotes

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Chapters

• 0:00 Democratic National Convention Conversations
• 13:16 San Francisco Friendship and Bravery

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey everybody, it's Jesse and I am here with a good good friend of mine who I have known for 15 years.

Speaker 2: 0:07

It's been that long.

Speaker 1: 0:08

It has been that long. We were 10 when we met.

Speaker 2: 0:11

Exactly exactly.

Speaker 1: 0:12

This is Nancy Tong, who is the chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and a personal friend who we got to know each other working on cases with the San Francisco DA's office in my office.

Speaker 2: 0:25

That's right.

Speaker 1: 0:26

So what do you think of all of this?

Speaker 2: 0:29

Oh, my God, so much pomp, so much circumstance, so much crying, so much emotion, so much joy. There is nothing like being on the floor of the Democratic National Convention. There's just nothing like it.

Speaker 1: 0:43

Have you been a delegate before? I have not, so we're both first timers.

Speaker 2: 0:50

Off the jury.

Speaker 1: 0:51

And let's hope it's not our last right?

Speaker 2: 0:53

Yeah, for sure, I mean. I think this is just a really exciting moment in history. And for me it's kind of personal because back in 2006, kamala Harris actually swore me in as a DA in her office. She hired me.

Speaker 1: 1:07

So you started with her in the office.

Speaker 2: 1:09

Yeah, well, no, her first year as DA was, I think, January 20, sorry 2004.

Speaker 1: 1:20

Okay, I mean, but when you first got to the San Francisco office, she was your first boss.

Speaker 2: 1:26

Yeah, she was my first boss. She was my first boss at SFDA, so I mean it's exciting to have watched her career, to watch her, you know, go from DA to state AG, which I was also an alumni of the AG's office, and then to US Senate Vice President, and you know, this moment in history is one that is unique and it's never going to happen again. Like all of the planets and the stars and the moons and everything.

Speaker 2: 1:56

It just all came together in a line, it all came together, it all came together, and I can think of no better person to meet this point in history than Kamala Harris.

Speaker 1: 2:08

And what do you think of Governor Walz? Do you think he was a good pick?

Speaker 2: 2:12

I love him. I love him. I think, when they talk about things like balancing the ticket and, like you know, male, female, person of color, person with no color, you know, I just I think that they are actually more alike than they are different and it's been amazing because we got Governor Walz's first rally solo in Omaha.

Speaker 1: 2:39

Okay, and we actually Nebraska. We know him because he was born there and he has spoken at. Last year he spoke at our Ben Nelson Gala.

Speaker 2: 2:51

One of the things that really struck me about how progressive but not pushy he is with his values is that story about him volunteering to be the faculty advisor for the queer straight Alliance at his high school, and that to me was something like you know you? You show who you are by the things that you do and actions speak louder than words. Absolutely, absolutely you can.

Speaker 1: 3:19

You can say you're a supporter, you can do it, but if you don't actually do something, you're really not.

Speaker 2: 3:33

I think there was something about you know him saying that that, as a straight white man who was married and has kids, that it was really important to him to show that, to really, you know, be a model for other people like like these, like these are, these are our neighbors, these are, and if anyone's going to do it, it should be the football coach.

Speaker 1: 3:48

I know I mean, that's what I, that's what made me. He makes my heart sing every time that I hear him speak, because he is so down to earth, he is so relatable. And you know, I graduated from a small Nebraska high school. I always thought my class was small, with 33. He only had 24.

Speaker 2: 4:06

That's right, that's right.

Speaker 1: 4:08

So they had. We had nine more people than he did.

Speaker 2: 4:12

But were you related to half of them?

Speaker 1: 4:14

And that's the other thing is no, I was not related to half of my class like he was. I was only related to about five. That's the thing with small towns. You have families that are there, the the farming community, that they've they've gotten together and and neighbors marry neighbors and then you know so suddenly everyone's related to everyone and it's.

Speaker 1: 4:34

It's such an amazing experience growing up in a rural community because you do have that community, because you you may have that kind of crazy neighbor, but he's still your neighbor and he's family and he's still a part of your community and still, if his field catches on fire, you're going to be out there helping to put it out, because you know that can go to someone else's, and if yours is on fire, he's going to come over and help you. We help each other in rural communities because that's what we do, and so this ticket has just energized me so incredibly.

Speaker 2: 5:06

It's great, absolutely great. He has a great story, just as kamala has a great story, and you know the idea that these, these two improbable storylines, have met. Now at this point in history.

Speaker 2: 5:24

Here, like Chicago and the land of Lincoln, where you know we got President Obama. I mean this does feel like I won't say like an Obama 2, but like an appropriate level up. We are leveling up. We are continuing to grow as a country. We are continuing to recognize that diversity is not just DEI. It's really about recognizing people who, irrespective of what race or gender they are or where they come from or if they have blended families, or you know race or gender they are or where they come from or if they have blended families, or you know that sometimes the best person for the job is right in front of you.

Speaker 1: 6:15

And if you're too blinded by your prejudices to see it, you're going to hurt yourself and you're going to hurt your community. That's what community is all about is getting to know everybody, getting to know their strengths and everybody helping to raise the level. And that's what I get out of this ticket. Yeah, when I ran, I I had no idea. I shouldn't say I had no idea. Um, I was asked by the, the biden uh head in nebraska at the state convention if I what I thought the october surprise was going to be and I was like, well, I think the big surprise is going to be.

Speaker 1: 6:48

And I was like well, I think the big surprise is going to be that he's not going to be our nominee ultimately. But I had to keep my mouth shut because I didn't want to sound like I was jinxing anything or anything. But I really did think that he was going to come to the realization that the country needed to move in a different direction and move forward, and that it was time to pass the baton to a new generation.

Speaker 2: 7:12

I think that's one of the things that will mark his great presidency. Is really this unselfishness, right?

Speaker 1: 7:21

Yeah, I mean he's only the second president who really has voluntarily given up power, and so I put him up there with the ranks of George Washington because he really did something special and I know it was a very difficult decision for him and his family, but he loves this country more than the lust for power, unlike some people who I know who have nothing but lust for power. Right, and next time you hear him speak you know, count the number of eyes right, right.

Speaker 2: 7:50

Oh, that was a real treat to have not just bill clinton but hillary clinton come and visit the convention and give keynote speeches. I mean bill clinton, I don't I don't know how frequently he's on the speaker circuit, but he was.

Speaker 1: 8:10

Bill Clinton. It was nice seeing him back again and I love the fact that he goes. And I can say that even at my age, I'm younger than Donald Trump, and he hasn't been president for what? 20 years.

Speaker 2: 8:24

Oh yeah, it's been a while.

Speaker 1: 8:26

It's been a while president for what I want, you know, 20 years. Oh yeah, it's so. It's. It's just been so energizing and and the, the audience here, the delegates, the, even the press you know they're, they're getting into it, and for hillary too.

Speaker 2: 8:38

I think that this is this, is this convention. I hope is cathartic cathartic and it brings some closure right, because, I mean, I think there were very few, few of us in democratic circles that thought that hillary was not going to win in 2016 yeah, did you?

Speaker 1: 8:57

did you participate in the chant of lock him up at all? No, I didn't. I confess I did, because I I just really I thought it was laughing at Trump and mocking him and he doesn't like that and we've got to do more of that.

Speaker 2: 9:13

I think the, instead of the aggressive going after him, the dismissive thing probably bothers him more.

Speaker 1: 9:21

Oh, it does.

Speaker 2: 9:22

Like the fact that you know that Tim Walz is the one who like really got under their skin by calling everybody weird, weird, that's a weird thing. Like why wouldn't you feed children, like put food in their bellies? Not to is to criticize me for that. It's weird, um, but I, I think that um it that, more than anything, they just don't, they don't know how to counteract that. Yeah, they don't know how to counteract it because, instead of giving them power by treating them seriously, you're dismissive and saying they're not worth anyone's time, and so I I think they haven't quite figured out how to do that. They haven't quite figured out how to like counterbalance joy, yeah, right how do you counteract what's the opposite of joy, sadness and that?

Speaker 1: 10:13

but that is what they're peddling and but it's just been so much fun being a convention virgin and going around and getting a chance to see you. I I did, by the way, I did endorse this woman to be San Francisco DA and I still think that she would make a fantastic district attorney. Oh, thanks, I'm working on this chair thing right now.

Speaker 2: 10:37

It's a lot of work. Yes, but you know, california is a powerhouse. We have a lot of Democrats that we can put to work. We're gonna make sure this election is a landslide.

Speaker 1: 10:46

We had a number of speakers at our breakfast. All of them are talking about organizing and making sure that it's not just this election and making sure it's not just on a national level. We've got to get local involved. Yeah, we've got to get local involved. Yeah, we've got to grow the party, especially in Nebraska, where people don't want to be associated with Democrats for whatever reason. We have really started building. We've gotten over 500 additional Democratic officeholders across the state. Our state party, jane, is fantastic at trying to build everything up. We're still having some issues getting candidates at times and we're growing and we're expanding. And we got so many additional volunteers.

Speaker 1: 11:36

Once we knew that it was going to be Kamala Harris and it was. You can feel it. You can feel it. Yeah, it's palatable, even in a red state like Nebraska. We got over 7,500 requests to come to the Walls Rally. Oh, and that was set up on 48 hours notice Wow, while our executive director and chair were all preparing to come to the convention. So it literally was. We pulled off a miracle, had over 5 000 people at that rally, and so you can feel the energy. You can feel things are changing yeah, that's great well.

Speaker 1: 12:13

Thank you so much for taking time to come on this, because this has been such a fun thing to do and getting to talk to people and ask them about their experiences and what they think of everything. And ask them about their experiences and what they think of everything, and you're a very special friend, this lady. On April Fool's Day, 2015,. I walked into a meeting in the San Francisco DA's office with a table full of folks and announced that I was transitioning. I thought everyone was gonna laugh because it was April 1st, which, by the way, georgia, who runs our California District Attorneys Association consumer section.

Speaker 1: 12:50

I had called her on the way down to the meeting with the DAs here and because I was going to be speaking at a conference later and I was going to have a new name. So I called her to tell her about that. And she goes oh, this is a good one, this is the best one I've ever heard. And I was like what she goes? This is joke. Right here, you're mocking Caitlyn Jenner and and I was like, oh god, it is, isn't it? And it's like no, I'm not. Yeah, but these, these people in San Francisco, and especially Nancy, did not do that. In fact, fact, nancy, the first thing she did was send me a Sephora gift card to help me. She said I was going to need it.

Speaker 2: 13:35

So you're a very special friend, oh, jessie, and she is one of the bravest people I know. One of the bravest people I know. One of the bravest people I know.

Speaker 1: 13:42

Thank you so until we find our next victim. This is Jesse for the Transparency Podcast Show. Thank you so much, Nancy, Anytime and thank you guys and look for some more content. You.