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June 16, 2022 31 mins

Politics have never been more divisive than they are right now. Is it possible to have a healthy connection to politics, and if so, what does that look like? This week, Eva is joined by good friend and political commentator, Ana Navarro-Cárdenas. Eva and Ana have a lively, open conversation about the state of politics in our country, crossing party lines, and the true meaning of civic engagement and its importance - especially right now.

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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, welcome back to Connections with Evil Longoria. I'm Eva Longoria.
Today we're talking about our connection to politics. I've always
been politically active, more so in the last I think decade,
last two decades. How old am I because I care.
I care so deeply about this country, about our communities.

(00:21):
I think that we're not going to solve all the problems,
but if we can solve a couple of the problems
for some people, then it was worth it. We see
politicians making policies and you're like, what's that policy? And
we forget policies affect people, and we are those people,
so we should probably have a say in what those
policies are doing. We have to connect to the idea

(00:47):
of civic engagement. We just have to. We have to
reconnect in a way that is not divisive and loud
and hateful and chaotic and intimidating and overwhelming. We shouldn't
relate it to those words or those ideas. Being politically
active or doing your civic duty of voting should be

(01:08):
associated with freedom and liberty and connecting us back to
this great country we live in, connecting us back to community,
connecting us back to each other, and so Today we
are speaking with Anna Navarro, my friend, my sister Mirmana,
and she's a Republican and I'm a Democrat. And I
always find those conversations to be fascinating. When two people

(01:32):
can really talk about an issue, coming at it from
different points of view, coming at it from both sides,
coming out it from different experiences, it's helpful. It's helpful
to connect on a human level. And that's what I
really love about Anna is she kind of takes the
ideology and political party out of it, and she just

(01:53):
has a conversation with me about immigration, about health care,
about taxes, And this is the conversation I want to
have with everybody. Everybody should have an auna in their
life that they can reasonably talk to and say, I
don't agree with you, I don't agree with that, tell
me more about why you think that, and for them

(02:13):
to be able to explain it to us, and then
me to say, well this is what I think, or
for my mind to be changed of Wow, I never
I never thought of it like that. And so she's
been a great sounding board, a great person to really
run things by, a great person to talk to, and
a great person to connect to on a human level.
She's a Republican who worked for Jeb Bush and John McCain,

(02:34):
and she famously crossed party lines, voting for both Hillary
and Joe. And we all know you as a political strategist,
commentator on CNN and ABC the view I know, or
as a friend. Please welcome Anna. Thank you so much
for doing this. On look, I don't know they. I
accepted this thinking that was going to be avocado toast

(02:56):
or something involved that you know, tequila. This will we
have much more interesting conversation if we had tequila, for sure. Now.
I wanted to talk to you because I think people
have a dysfunctional connection to the word politics, the idea
of politics. I think it's not glamorous. I think it's complicated.

(03:18):
I think people find it boring. Some people find it overwhelming.
There's a lot of cynicism today and a lot of
combativeness in it. So I can understand why people kind
of have an apathetic feeling towards the subject. And so
I wanted to talk to you because you have an
ability you connect with it in such a playful way

(03:39):
that still carries weight and importance. And so that's kind
of what I want to talk about today. Is why
do we need to connect in a political way in
our society or in our lives. Look, I think politics
has been very affected by the four years of the
Trump presidency and then by COVID right, and we've seen

(04:00):
so many changes. I've noticed in my own life that
I'm not as two seven connected as I was during
the Trump years, because I used to have a level
of anxiety that went with being connected to politics and
being involved in politics, because I always felt like if
I looked the other way for thirty seconds, or maybe

(04:23):
you want to take a bath when I came out,
we might be in some sort of international incidents or
something really bad might have happened. So I think it's
not that people have tuned off from politics since Trump.
I think that the need and the anxiety have been lessened. Yeah,
I agree. I think in the clickbait SoundBite culture, I too,

(04:45):
you know, the last five years was like glued to news.
I would listen to it in my car, I get
out of my car, I turned it on at the house.
Once I left this room, I go down to the
kitchen and turn it on in the kitchen, Like there
was a level of I need to know what this
guy's gonna say. And I hated it. I hated that
negative connection because it did give me anxiety. I think
sometimes people think they have to have this huge connection

(05:06):
and backstory to be involved in politics, and it's like, no,
you don't to me, you just have to care about
your livelihood. But tell people what was your journey? And
the reason I'm asking this is because your connection to
politics and you being a Republican but having a different
ideology that didn't marry you two being so rigid, like

(05:26):
you really look at people and you really saw Sarah
Palin or a Trump and you were like, mm hmmmm,
not not great for our country. Uh. And I want
people to learn from you, learn how to be a
little more amiable with humanity and how they connect to politics,
because I think your connection and the way you've lived

(05:47):
your life in this political spectrum is really something to model. Well,
you know, I was I was born in Nicaragua. As
you mentioned, I'm a political exile. I left Nicarawa because
it was a revolution and Sandy Nista government a left
wing government, and my family and I fled. We settled
in Miami, Florida, which is a very political community. It's

(06:10):
a community where there is a constant new influx of
exiles and immigrants, whether it was Cuba in the sixties,
Venezuela and Argentina and Columbia now in a Garaa in
the eighties and nineties. So we are, we're very politically aware,
we're very politically engaged, and we're in a state that's important.

(06:32):
Right it's a state of Florida, which can go blue,
it can go red. Right now, I think it's more
red than it is blue, but it's been a contended
state in presidential races, which makes it a very important
community to be part of. So I think that when
you go through civil war as a child, I think
when you go through political exile, you go one of

(06:53):
two ways. Either you decide, you know, I want nothing
to do with politics. I'm going to just steer away
from go knit and grow marigolds somewhere, or it really
marks you and you decide, you know, being engaged, being informed,
being involved matters. Democracy makes a difference. You don't take voting,

(07:16):
you don't take democracy for granted, and you want to
be more involved. So obviously for me, it was the latter,
and I do think it matters so much. And who
you choose, and what you vote for and what causes
you stand for matters so much. I would tell people
who want to be more connected with politics that, for me, Eva,

(07:37):
the most important thing is really knowing what matters to
you and what you believe in, because things have become
much more contentious and much more blurry. But when your
parents were voting, right, my parents, we came here in
When your parents were voting, people tended to vote straight Democrats,

(08:00):
straight Republican, straight for this, you know, Latino, for Jack Kennedy, whatever.
You didn't have as many tools to research what people
stood for. You had a newspaper that came out the
day after the thing happened. You had three networks that
only had one news program at night. Right now we
have a twenty four seven news cycle, and we have,

(08:21):
through the Internet and through social media, the ability to
research what people have voted, on their records, what they've
done in their personal life. And I think it's really
important to know what matters to you and to know
what you stand for because politics has become divisive, controversial, toxic,

(08:43):
and regardless of who you are and what you believe,
you're invariably going to get challenged and you're going to
get pushback from somebody or other, and so you better
be very committed to what you believe in because there
will be pushed back and there will be consequence says
to your beliefs if you become politically connected. Yeah, yeah,

(09:04):
And what's the saying, if you stand for nothing, you'll
fall for anything. I agree with that. There's no swaying
me on certain issues. You don't jump on the bandwagon
of an issue. It's like, no, you should have a
core belief system and what you want this country to
look like, what you want it to be like, what
you want your community to look like and be like.
And I think part of political connection is understanding that

(09:27):
you're part of a community. And you know, I never
say that I speak on behalf of Latinos. You and
I know that Latinos are not a homogeneous group. And
I don't aspire to speak on behalf of Latinos. I
speak my experience, And if there are Latinos out there
or other people who identify with it and who can
learn from it and who feel represented, then that makes

(09:49):
me feel very happy. If there are people who get
inspired to be part of the political system because of
what I do. That makes me very happy. That gives
me all the satisfaction in the world. But you've got
to know what you stand for, and you've got to
know that you speak for yourself, and that we're in
a country where you can do that, where you can speak.
Let me tell you something where I think political connectivity

(10:11):
has changed and matters. I think people used to be
a lot more tied to parties, and I think the
younger generations are now more tied to issues and causes,
so they will define themselves less as Republican or Democrats,
or progressive or conservative. And you go to colleges, they

(10:34):
will define themselves by climate change or you know, choice
equal right, right, And that gives me hope. I feel
like also this allows for reaching across the aisle and
politicians right, and sometimes our parties don't allow us to
meet in the middle, you know what I mean, Like

(10:54):
our parties really go new We're not meeting you in
the middle, And Joe's like, we gotta meet in the
middle because we've got to have progress instead of perfection,
you know. Yeah. I mean I've become a one issue voter,
which is truth and decency and and sanity. But I
think you're right, And when he started the campaign trying
to be by part of it and trying to connect

(11:15):
with people like me, people who before Trump had always
voted Republican. It wasn't the most popular thing within his party,
but it's who he's always been, it's what he's always
stood for, and it's how he won. Do you think

(11:42):
in the birth of our nation and in our democracy,
do you think the intention was politics should connect us
or was it built to be elitist? Was it built
to not have connectivity to the people, even though all
of the documents say of the people, But like, do
you think politics in its DNA is meant to connect people? Yeah?

(12:04):
But of the people by the people. In seventeen seventy six,
what did that mean? That meant landowning men For the
most part, when they were talking about all men are
created equal, they weren't talking about you or me. So
I think it's evolved through the struggle of people. Nothing

(12:24):
has been given for free. Civil rights have not come
for free, and it's something we should not take for
granted because we've got to continue moving it. So I
think it's been because of political connectivity, because of political activism,
because of people pushing the three branches of government because
of all of that for years. How long did it

(12:46):
take for gay marriage to be legal? And so so? No,
I don't think the birth of this nation was I
don't think equality meant to them what it means to you. Up,
I agree with you. You know, when I got my
master's degree, Cornell West came and spoke at my college

(13:06):
and he was saying, there's been no major civil rights
movement that ever happened without the movement of people. He goes,
it's not one day a politician woke up and said,
you know what, women should have the right to vote.
It was civil disobedience that moved that policy forward. It
was women out in the street and marching and getting

(13:27):
beaten and some dying for our right to vote. The
civil rights movement in the sixties, whether you were black
or brown, it was our communities that were out in
the streets demanding voting rights, demanding quality education, connectivity of allies.
It's never been just a group by itself. You know.
It shows the power of numbers. The civil rights issues.

(13:50):
Where there has been progress, it's been not just because
the African American community is pushing or just Latinos are
pushing it or just LGBTQ or pushed it is because
people are pushing the rock up the hill together with allies. Yeah.
I mean that's the other thing about politics that kind
of frustrates me is like we, especially with COVID, really

(14:12):
teaching us a lesson, we live in a global community.
You don't live in Florida, I don't live in California.
We live in this world. You saw how fast a
little tiny virus went Mond like, which just went all
over the world so quickly, and you go, oh, we
are all connected. So what happens in Africa affects us,

(14:33):
what happens here affects people in China. And I think
we didn't realize it as much before COVID how connected
we really are. And so that's my plea to apathetic
voters or people who don't want to be involved in
this dirty word called politics, you have to care. I mean,
you really really have to care for the sake of humanity.

(14:54):
And so I think that the idea that government and
politics impacts every aspect of our lives and people just
kind of put their head in the sand about that.
How can we have people connect to politics in a
way that engages them in creating a more participatory country.
I guess for us, you know, I think it goes

(15:16):
back to what issues you care the most about, and
then being supportive and engaged with the parties and the
candidates and the people who most represent the most aligned
with the things that are important to you. People say, well,
you know, we haven't done nothing on climate change. I'm

(15:36):
frustrated because of climate change and nothing getting done. And
I said, well, where were we five years ago? We
were getting with drawn from the Paris Agreement, and so
have emission standards change? Are we stopping erosion from one
day to the next. Are we stopping global warming from
one day to the next. Note, but because American leaders

(15:59):
have understood that it is an important issue for people,
there has been movement and collaboration, and it's to your
point of being global. No matter what we do in
the United States, if other countries aren't doing it as well,
we're all briefing the same air and it's the same
ocean washing on our shores, and so we're not an

(16:21):
island in the universe. But the other thing I always
say is you don't have to be a politician to
be political. And I think that's a big myth, and
so that's part of the reason of this particular episode
is how can we get people. I do agree with you.
I think younger generations are connected to the political world
in an issue based way. I think they're paying attention
and they're listening, but they're not showing up to vote.

(16:44):
I'll tell you that, you know what I mean. There's
still a real lag of eligible voters that are just
not going to the polls. I think part of that
is though they don't like the choices, right. So, I
think that because of our primary systems, because of the
power of the incumbencies, because of the corruption of money

(17:07):
and financing and politics, I think it turns young people off.
And I think that it's it sometimes leads to where
they don't feel it's the best choice for them, or
they don't feel represented. And you know, you get to
a point where you kind of say, Okay, I'm going
to vote for the best of the two choices. But

(17:28):
I think young people want better choices. They didn't want
to settle for the best of these two choices. Yeah,
but then to to go, I'm not voting for either
is not a good thing to do. Either, you know,
that's not a good conclusion. I always say to young people,
you're gonna be in this planet and you're going to
be affected by the laws that are made and by

(17:50):
the changes the policies that are implemented much more than
people my age and older. So it is more important
for young people do won't because they're going to be
effective for the next eighty years. It's for their short
and long term benefit. And I do think though, young
people are very good at certain things that are political,

(18:13):
whether they think it's political or not. I'll give you
an example. Social media campaigns. Right, that's something that I
think I pooh pooed for a long time. What's you
know these hashtags? The hashtag that, what does that mean?
Ask Britney Spears if it's made a difference. I think
she would tell you yes. And so I think the

(18:33):
racing of awareness, the building of community through social media
campaigns and those hashtag campaigns, the building of enthusiasm is
something that young people can do very well. We just
need to make sure that that translates into also going
to the polls. What was your original connection to the

(19:03):
Republican Party and what's your connection now? Well, my original connection. Look,
I'm from Miami, right, I settled in Miami, Republican leaders
for people like Ileana Ross Layton and the first Latina
congresswoman elected, the first Cuban American elected, people like Jeff
Bush who was married to Colomba Bush, a woman who

(19:24):
was born in Mexico, people like Treenador Mel Martinez, and
so I think even we all are who we are,
plus our circumstances. So I think growing up and remember
this was the Miami and the Republican Party of the
eighties and nineties and two thousands, where there were people
like George W. Bush, who in our lifetime a Republican

(19:48):
one of the Latino vote. It almost sounds as if
dinosaurs were roaming the earth. But this happened in our lifetime, right,
And that was my circumstance. When you come as a
political exile, of the thing that matters the most to
you is what's happening back in your homeland and what
policies affect that. Everybody who comes here fleeing a government,

(20:11):
fleeing political upheaval, thinks they're going back home. Things next
year in Havana, by next year Christmas, we're going to
be back home and so it takes a while to realize,
you know, I'm no longer that I'm now an American
and start putting priorities different. So for me, you know,

(20:34):
I became a Republican because I was a kid. I
was eight years old when I came here, and the
conversations and the people who were appealing to those of
us fleeing left wing governments in Latin America were the Republicans.
And you know, because people like me, people who looked
like me and sounded like me, were representing me in Congress,
and they bought the party when they had to on

(20:56):
issues like immigration to stand up for their community. Look,
I think that if my family had settled in California
and I had had to deal with Pete Wilson instead
of Jeff Bush, I probably would have been a Democrat
since I was a young kid. But you know, it's very,
very different. I grew up in a different Republican party
in the state of Florida, where Republican leaders were always

(21:19):
coming to court us and talk about the issues that
were important to us. It's very different than what it
is today. If you can't be a chainey and be
accepted as a Republican. Imagine how a little immigrant girl
from Nicarawa feels. It feels pretty shaty to have your
friends turn your back on you and attack you and

(21:42):
tell you that you don't belong. But that's why I
tell you, it's so important to know what you stand
for and what you believe, because when the chips are
down and when things get tough, it's those convictions and
principles that will get you through those tough times. Yeah,
I think that's why people love you so much, just
because you come from a place of well, you have

(22:02):
a moral compass a and you really use that to
figure out how you're connected to policies or people, or
how policies affect people. Why don't you let me ask
you this because you know a lot of movie stars,
TV stars, a lot of celebrities shy away from being
connected to politics, are being connected with any political party

(22:25):
because they don't want to antagonize a group or others. Right,
you want viewers, You want people to go to your
movies and watch your TV shows. It doesn't matter whether
they're Democratic Republican. And so it takes it takes courage,
and I have a cost. So what keeps you connected
to politics. Why do you care what is? Definitely there

(22:46):
are things more important in the world than box office
and ratings, and that's why I stay in it, you know.
But why I got into politics is because of my sister.
She's special needs. My mother's a special education teacher, and
she went to this school that was all special needs.
Was a beautiful school and you could go from first grade,

(23:07):
second grade, third grade, and the community shut it down
because it was lowering their property value. And I remember
my mom getting upset and we had to go march.
We had to go to like city hall. But I
remember showing up and that that was making a difference somehow,
And so I later realized what it was, because you know,

(23:28):
at the time, I'm like six or eight, and I
was like, why are we doing it? So I grew
up in a very it wasn't even a political family.
My parents are not political, but they were very involved
in the community because my sister was special needs. But yeah,
that's where it kind of started. You know. For all
the years I've known you, I've never heard that story.
So you didn't. Yeah, they shut down that beautiful school. Well,

(23:50):
because I think those of us with special needs loved ones.
In a way, I think we're the lucky ones because
you often get to see life through the purest the
eyes and the idea of fighting for them. I think
it's an introduction to what things matter because you don't
get to choose who your sister is, but she's your

(24:12):
sister and you have to stand up for it. But
I think that is a good definition of why should
I be involved in politics, because you should care about strangers, right,
Like I care about my sister and how that affects
her and her life. But at the same time, my
advocacy affected many families, My activism affected many communities. Caring
about strangers is something that makes me connect to politics

(24:34):
because our family was one of those strangers to somebody else, right,
Like they didn't know they were helping us, but they did,
and they did in a big way. But yeah, we
are definitely the lucky ones of being blessed with the
light in our family that Lisa is just this like
truth teller. She sees the good in everybody and everything,
and nobody sees the world that way. We're very cynical

(24:55):
and it's definitely different, but I do. I remember in
high school in government class and I was seventeen when
Clinton ran the first time, and I couldn't vote, but
our class made us go do a certain amount of
hours at any campaign office. You could pick Republican, you
could pick whatever. And the reason I picked Democratic was

(25:17):
because it was the closest one to my house, Like
I and I like the color blue, and so we
door knocked for Clinton. We got out the vote, and
I just that's kind of when I first thought, like, oh,
there's a whole machine, there's a whole thing behind voting.
And I remember being so involved in it that I
was sad I couldn't vote that year. Oh my god.

(25:38):
And this was Texas. So if you had liked read
better than and you know, my parents liked George W.
And George Sr. Because they gave a lot of subsidies
to ranchers, we were ranchers. George W. Was the closest
immigration reform more than anybody else had ever gotten. You know,
he really understood that border relationship with Mexico being in Texas.

(25:59):
And I think I want to say Obama or as
my mom called him, Bahama, might have been the first
time they voted. I can't I don't even know because
my family is not political. I know they vote, but
they weren't really political, and so you know, they were
Republicans for a very long time. My entire extended family
is definitely Republican, I'll tell you that. Like you said,
we're not a monolithic group. Here's the other thing about

(26:21):
politics and being connected to it is it's hard to
connect to politics today when you don't know what the
truth is. Like you said, there's so many outlets now,
there's so many platforms, there's so many YouTube channels, there's
so much social media. It's like, what is truth? Right,
there's so much opinion news as opposed to news. Remember
when you just used to get the news. Now it's

(26:41):
all opinion news. So you kind of just get divided
into these two camps and into these two bubbles, and
you get into an echo chamber and you just get
fed what you want to hear. And I think it's
harder for us to connect to politics now because the
poll of truth keeps moving. I don't know where it
is now at lea. That's what I think some people feel.

(27:02):
I think we all should be wary of any news
we consume and really be responsible and take personal responsibility
about making sure that they are credible news sources, and
not everything you read on Facebook is a credible news source.
We shouldn't be sharing stuff unless we know that it
comes from a credible news source. I always find it

(27:25):
helpful to follow if I'm interested in what's going on
in the White House, to follow the reporters who are
at the White House briefing room, the people who are
on the ground covering those issues. Follow people that have
particular beats, and some of the newspapers the Latin America beat,
the immigration beats. So you're getting news from people who

(27:48):
have on the ground eyes and ears as to what
is happening. But it's true, you are what you ingest,
so you've got to really search out the truth tellers
within the media so that you can make intelligent decisions
about your thoughts and beliefs. I think you know what
I've been doing for the last few weeks, is you know,

(28:11):
when you donate money, or when you're involved with a campaign,
or whenever, invariably you end up in some sort of
mailing list, and then those mailing lists get sold to
other mailing lists and other campaigns and other candidates, and
next thing you know, you're inundated by political emails on
a daily basis, and a lot of them are not true,

(28:33):
a lot of them are toxic, a lot of them
are people with an agenda. I unsubscribe myself from everything,
from all the political stuff because it was just too
much of a barrage of toxicity, and so I think
it's important that we seek information from as truthful source
as possible. To wrap up, let's look to the future

(28:56):
on a what do you want to see happen in politics?
But do I want to say? I would to see
people who care more about values, about people, and about
policies than they do about keeping their political position. I
want to see people who are willing to cross the
aisle and work in a cooperative fashion to find solutions

(29:17):
for some of our biggest problems. EVA. I really want
to see immigration reform. I want to see the Dreamers
get legal status and stop being a political pawn for
people as they've been for decades. I want to see
young people participate and be part of the process, and
more young people get elected and really make a difference.

(29:41):
So those are the things, and what about as far
as like I love your aspirations for politicians, but what
about for just people? People in general. What do you
want to see from them in our country. I want
to see people being able to talk about politics and
with each other again without the fear of all hell's
going to break, Loues, this is going to cost me

(30:01):
this relationship. I want to see people leaving their comfort
zones and so not just listening to and hanging out
with people who think like them and who look like
them and sound like them, but also others. Right. I
think for for too many people, when you say the
word diversity, it's you know, black girl check, Latino check,

(30:23):
Asian check. But I think we've lost the ability to
embrace diversity of thought and what comes with that. So
I'd love to see people listen to each other more,
share more without fear of repercussion. Yeah, I agree. Thank
you so much, Anna for doing this. I love you.
I love you too, Thank you so much for listening.

(30:48):
I'm happy to be connected with you. Connections with Even
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From Executive Producers Jennie Garth, Jana Kramer, Amy Robach, and T.J. Holmes. Did you think you met the love of your life and marry him, only to realize it was actually “thank you, next?" Did this jerk cheat on you and leave you feeling alone and hopeless? Don’t make the same mistake twice... Get it right THIS time! Is it time to find true love…again?! If you loved the Golden Bachelor, SILVER just might be your color. Older and wiser, 50 and Fabulous, and ready for a little sex in the city. Everyone has baggage, but you’re not bringing it on this trip. Second Times The Charm. I Do, Part Two. An iHeartRadio podcast...where finding love is the main objective.

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.

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