Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg was LIVE from Radio Row at this year’s 47th Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. The DNC started Monday, July 25th and runs to Thursday July 28 With over 18000 hotel rooms within a 15 minute walk of the arena, well over 50,000 people have flocked to support and protest this year’s DNC.
Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama gave a passionate speech everyone can’t stop talking about & Bernie Sanders offered his support and full endorsement of Hillary. Tuesday was roll call and Hillary took the nomination. Bernie gave her all his votes and Bill Clinton told the story of their lives.
Today, President Obama and Vice President Biden are scheduled to speak. Tomorrow Chelsea Clinton will introduce her mother, the Democratic nominee for United States President.
This DNC, Lena Dunham, Snoop Dogg, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Cyndi Lauper, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry are just some of the celebrities lending their support to the DNC. Not to mention the slough of city and state officials from across the country: Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, Senator Elizabeth Warren, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, & Senator Cory Booker, who was in talks to be vice president before Tim Kaine.
Fun facts: The first DNC took place in 1832 in Baltimore, Maryland. Martin van Buren was the Democratic nominee. The DNC costs $84 million and hopes to bring in over $200 million to the city.
It’s been a tumultuous few days after DNC emails were hacked and released but spirits are high and the speeches have been inspiring. From what was at first a divided arena on Monday has really started to unify. The theme of DNC this year. Unity.
Sitting with Randi today to discuss politics, democracy, the DNC, and journalism were Ana Kasparian, political pundit of the The Young Turks, Mayor of Baltimore / Madam Secretary of the Democratic Party, Stephanie Rawlings Blake, and special guest, news correspondent Dan Rather. Here’s the quotes:
“The DNC is chaotic but it’s also extremely exciting. You’re in the heart of it with media.”
“As a pundit, you deal with individuals who you might not agree with.”
“The Young Turks started back in 2002. Cenk decided he didn’t want to be a lawyer, he wanted to be a political host.”
“TYT didn’t get much visability until 2005 with YouTube. Before we knew it videos took off.”
“Young people would watch the celebrity gossip stories and then would get political news that was digestible.”
“The RNC focused on negativity, the DNC focuses on hope, change. At the DNC we need to see more attacks on Donald Trump and why Hillary can fix that.”
“People need to be convinced that Donald Trump can’t win.”
“The similarities with the DNC and RNC is sadly the divison.”
“Bernie Sanders followers actually walked out and occupied the media tent. Mainstream media did not cover it.”
“Neutrality needs to be mandatory. The DNC kept scheduling the debates on weekends because they knew no one would watch. That came out in the emails.”
“Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepping down is just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Russia has invested a lot of money in Donald Trump. He’s getting criticized for those ties. He’s talking about dismantling NATO just to appease Putin.”
“What’s worse, someone’s who running for president and doesn’t know who a world leader is or someone who is tied financially to other world leaders?”
“Tim Kaine is a good choice depending what Hillary’s strategy is. “
“TPP is one of the reasons that Sanders supporters are weary of Clinton.”
“Voting for a third party right now could be disastrous in defeating Donald Trump.”
“Those who supported Sanders liked him because of his ideas. His ideas contradict Clinton’s.”
“Digital media is serving as a primary news source for younger voters. The reality of CNN is you don’t get in depth analysis. They love the drama. What about the policy?”
“You have a huge portion of the electorate thinking Hillary and Donald are the same person.”
“On TYT we encourage our viewers to get their news from other sources. We’re humans, we make mistakes too. Be as informed as possible.”
“In terms of Facebook, its revealing to me we have a problem with media literacy.”
“On social media you see people sharing satarical news stories thinking they’re real.”
“I wasn’t experienced in online bullying. It’s a relatively new thing. What I’ve learned is to remove myself from it. I stopped reading comments.”
“Twitter has gotten better with the mute button.”
“It’s important to get constructive criticism.”
“My advice to Dan Rather is to keep doing what you’re doing and adapt to the media.”
“The pros [to getting news online] is people are interested in the news. Even if they get it from Twitter and Facebook.”
“You don’t want your neighbor doing surgery you want a trained professional. You want a real journalist giving you your news.”
“Context, depth, perspective, including historical facts, that’s real journalism.”
“We have to deal with things as they are, not as you would prefer them to be.”
“I do Twitter and Facebook to reach people.”
“There should be some teaching no later than the 7th grade about being skeptical, not cynical, not to believe everything you see and hear.”
“There was an old saying in journalism, ‘You trust your mother but you cut the cards.'”
“They used to want us to read and answer every letter we received. Now while we’re on the air people are reflecting. You get instant —up to a certain point.”
“You may not want to hear about what’s happening but it’s important.”
“It’s important for a journalist to say ‘my job is not the be loved, it’s to be an honest broker of information’ and hope the listener will respect that.”
“I’m very grateful to be here. I love covering politics. I started covering remote council meetings and worked my way up.”
“What happens here matters. This is the dance of democracy.”
“There’s nothing decided here. At one level it’s one long infomercial for the parties, but it’s all part of the process.”
“Covering politics is the most fun you can have out of bed.”
“You can curse the technology but it’s part of the reality.”
Advice to Ana Kasparian: “Don’t lose your idealism. Most get into journalism because they want to do something that matters and counts. Ratings and deadlines and pressure and money can squeeze the idealism out of you.”
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS BLAKE
“It is good to be here especially because my week has been extremely Dot Complicated.”
“I look forward to the DNC as much I look forward to getting the Ravens in the Superbowl.”
“I’ve been trying to build bridges between the Clinton and Sanders and campaigns.”
“I feel like I have goosebumps the entire time. To be so involved at this national level.”
“I wanted to be so excited taking the roll but I also wanted to be sick. You know those YouTube comments that call you out? I was so nervous.”
“Operationally this DNC has been very smooth. It’s capturing the spirit. Internally, it’s been our willingness to embrace the differences.”
“I’m proud that we didn’t sweep problems under the rug.”
“When Secretary Clinton says we are stronger together, it’s true. It’s not just a slogan.”
“I’m an attorney by profession. It requires you to be balanced. That same level of professionalism is required at the DNC.”
“Bernie supporters fought for a seat at the table and when they got there they used it and fought harder. They should be proud.”
“Politics and democracy is participatory. It’s not take your marbles and go home time.”
“My office does everything from certify the delegates, send out meeting notices and weekly updates.”
“I am the immediate past President of the US Conference of Mayors.”
“Anyone who ever sought office understands that 80% of people living in the US live near and in metropolitian areas. We need to invest in our cities and job training.”
“We need stronger collaboration with our federal law enforcement officers.”
“I benefitted greatly from the support of mayors around the country in 2015 after the tragic death of Freddie Gray. I wanted to be there for the mayors who needed me.”
“The challenging part is the tone of the country. There’s a lot of discontent. How do we channel that energy into solutions? The rewarding part is everything I get to do as Mayor, Secretary—I am extremely blessed to have a career that I am called to do.”
“I have not always been a fan of social media when it comes to government. People can oversimplify complicated issues in 140 characters.”
“No medium is perfect. As with everything, I try to focus on the positive. I am one of the top tweeting mayors in the country.”
“The recent videos of police shooting will show you what’s both good and bad about social media. Transparency is good. The bad thing is they rarely show the entire story.”
“It’s important that we understand the productivity of the American worker has gone up substantially. We have to pay people for the work that they do.”
“There’s not one delegation that’s not a true reflection of the people they represent. We cannot afford to divide our country and think we’re going to stand tall.”
“We believe in democracy and protecting the right to vote. It’s what will make us stronger.”
“I was up there taking the roll call and trying not to cry. You want to be in the moment and truly experience the weight of what happened. My role was to have an efficient roll call.”
“I’m known for being calm, cool, and collected in stressful situations.”
“To my daughter and children left unborn, this is a truly momentous occasion.”
“One of the things I delight in is seeing all the representations from all the different districts. I want to be out there on the floor trading pins, wearing crazy hats.”
“This is an opportunity to have fun. Life has its ups and downs. Why when you have something that’s wonderful do you want to diminish it?”
The DNC ends Thursday evening with a speech from Democratic Presidential Nominee (and FIRST WOMAN EVER nominated) Hillary Clinton. Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg airs LIVE every Wednesday on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 at 12pm ET/9am PT.
Subscribe to the Dot Complicated newsletter and receive a monthly update containing our latest blog posts, events, and more so you can stay informed on digital solutions and tech trends without getting overwhelmed. 