December 14, 2022 • 31 mins
The North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble podcast covers democratic politics in North GA, the 9th Congressional District, and across the state of Georgia. The podcast is in Q&A/Interview format with various democratic politicos including county chairs, democratic operatives, politicians, and more. It is our mission to deliver crucial information to our listeners in a timely manner as we fight for community values and principles in the 3rd most Conservative district in the state. Our website is: https://www.fcdpga.com/podcasts
Our guests highlight democratic activities and actions to work toward a Blue Georgia. The 9th Congressional District spans 20 counties across the region and covers a good deal of northern GA including Blue Ridge, Morganton, Fannin, Union, Banks, Athens/Clarke, Dawson, Elbert, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and White counties.
Our democratic party podcast also disseminates information and interviews powerful Democrats across the state of GA working to overthrow the suppression tactics of the GOP and ensure democracy and our values, grassroots efforts, and goals remain intact.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Meral Clarke (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to the North Georgia Blue
(00:03):
Podcast produced and distributedby the Fannin County Democratic
Party. I'm your host MeralClarke and we're getting into
some good trouble today with ourguest Zae Brewer Gen Z
democratic activist in metroAtlanta. Welcome to the show,
Zae. We're so happy you're here.
Zae Brewer (00:20):
Thank you. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
And I'm really honored to behere actually.
Meral Clarke (00:24):
Well, terrific.
We're honored to have you. Solet's let our listeners know a
little bit about you. A Georgianative Zae attends Kennesaw
State University or KSU, wherehe is a junior majoring in
political science. He is astudent leader, writer, activist
and advocate for a betterGeorgia and America. In 2020, he
served as a fellow for theGeorgia Democratic Party and is
(00:48):
currently serving as presidentand chair of the KSU Young
Democrats student representativefor the NAACP chancellor of
students president of theAmerican Red Cross on campus and
also sits on KSU StudentActivities Budget Advisory
Committee. Goodness, Zae when doyou have time to study?
Zae Brewer (01:10):
I get that question from everybody. I find time when
Meral Clarke (01:13):
Well, you've also received the United States
I can.
Senate youth program scholarshipwhile still in high school and
is one of two high schoolstudents represent Georgia and
was awarded the AJC cup in highschool. And that was in 2021, I
believe, yes, they served as anintern for the Gwinnett County
(01:33):
Democratic Party and campaignintern for Congresswoman Carolyn
Bordeaux. He currently has plansto attend law school after
graduation and continue servinghis country as an officer in the
armed forces. Thank you for yourservice and Zae hopes to be a
public servant in our state oneday, we should be so lucky. So
(01:53):
let's dive right in how and whendid you decide to become an
activist? And what sparked yourinterest in politics?
Zae Brewer (02:01):
Well, I remember 2016. And this is kind of how I
got involved in politics. Inparticular, my parents were
watching one of the Democraticdebates and I was just
fascinated by the clashesbetween Hillary Clinton and
Bernie Sanders. And I alsowatched the Republican side. And
I think that was definitely ainteresting and a year that
changed our country forever inthe direction of it. So seventh
(02:24):
grade me that I think I wasabout 12, or 13. And 2015 2016.
I watched the election, and Iended up bawling my eyes out
when Secretary Clinton lost. Andthen for two years after that, I
watched where the country wasgoing under President Trump.
Then in 2018, after StaceyAbrams was defeated, the first
(02:45):
time I said, You know what, I'mgoing to try to get involved the
next election cycle in 2020. Andthen COVID happened. And while
COVID was a very horrible thing,and you know, it really affected
me during my senior year, mebeing a person who loves school
and loves learning and is anextrovert. Honestly, I probably
wouldn't have gotten my realentry into politics. Because at
(03:08):
the time, you know, I was stilla minor. I couldn't drive yet.
And so having all that campaignstuff online, it really helped
me get involved. And it was thefirst time I volunteered for
campaigns and the dems. Andyeah, that's pretty much how I
got into it. And then like yousaid, in my intro in 2022, this
election cycle, I ended up doinga lot more yet. Last year, when
(03:29):
I came to KSU. I actuallystarted out serving as the event
Secretary Before being electedpresident this year. And you
know, I was a campaign enter forCongresswoman Bordeaux. And I've
gotten so much experienceworking as chair at KSU. And
it's really been life changing.
And the interesting thing aboutit is I didn't even want it at
first, how I even got it waskind of a big, I wasn't
(03:49):
expecting it, but it happenedanyway. Yes. Essentially, what
happened is I was the youngestofficer in the Dems last year at
KSU. And I was the youngest Iwas 18. Just got here. And I
also served as the youngestassociate justice on the case of
the Supreme Court in history,all the officers were like, Hey,
so we're graduating, or we'renot going to run again. So it's
(04:12):
just yours. And I ended uphaving to run and I got it. And
I first remember thinking when Iwas taking that oath to serve as
a party chair here, what have Igotten myself into, but I've
grown to really like it. So manyopportunities have come from
serving just in this year alone.
So I'm really grateful for it.
But that's pretty much how I gotinto it.
Meral Clarke (04:32):
Fantastic. Well, I'm happy to hear it. And
they're lucky to have you there.
So I wanted to ask you aboutyour thoughts on the midterms
and why none of our candidatesbroke 50% of the vote your
personal thoughts in yourthoughts as a student activist
and what needs to change forDemocrats to get statewide
candidates elected?
Zae Brewer (04:53):
I think obviously, it was a big disappointment for
Democrats considering whathappened in the midterms with
their statewide candidates. Youlook at that ticket. There was
so much talent, so muchdiversity and so much experience
in so many qualified candidates.
I met most of them because weactually hosted the most of them
here at KSU. And I ended upmeeting a few others elsewhere,
but so much talent. And I thinkthe party needs to do a
(05:15):
reevaluation of what is goingwrong on our statewide and in
particular with the down ballotraces. Now, I think the Senate
race was an interesting thing,because I think what we're
seeing is that Senator Warnockhas some that natural appeal
that people say that PresidentObama had, I think he has that
and people just trust himnaturally. And so while he came
(05:38):
so close to hitting that 50,against Herschel Walker, I think
a lot of Republicans came outthat day to vote against Stacey
Abrams, and just checked offWalker in My interpretation is
that there were just a lot offrustrated Republicans who
really approve of Kemp and theywanted to keep him there. And a
lot of them just also voted forWalker. I don't think that will
(05:59):
be the case for the runoff,though.
Meral Clarke (06:02):
Right. And this will actually air after the
runoff, just so you're aware.
But yes, it's very exciting tohave Senator Warnock go back to
the Senate. It's just soimportant. It really is. And we
need that extra padding,especially with the divided
Senate. So it would be 50 plusone, that would make a huge
difference. So let's chat aboutyour work with Georgia
(06:22):
Democrats. Tell us about yourexperience working with state
representative elect LisaCampbell for Georgia House
District 35, your internshipwith Congresswoman Bordeaux and
what you're doing now for theWarnock campaign. Tell us about
that.
Zae Brewer (06:39):
Well, first off for my friend Lisa Campbell, it was
a real honor working with herand helping her get elected. The
first time I spoke with her wasover the summer because of the
Dems at KSU we want to prepare aseries of forums. So we had a
congressional one which featuredMarcus Flowers, Antonio Daza and
bought Christian. We also had astatewide one which featured
(07:01):
Ginny Slavs, Robinson, WilliamBodie, and Nikita Hemingway,
ginger in and being wind sentrepresentatives. But we also had
a state legislature forum and webasically invited about seven
candidates from around Cobb,Marietta, Kennesaw, a little bit
of Cherokee out and we did thatto help the students get a
(07:22):
perspective on why local racesare important. Lisa likes to
emphasize that the seat that shejust won was lost two years ago
by I believe about three 400votes to Ed Sessler who by the
way, is the author of theheartbeat bill,
Meral Clarke (07:36):
Yes I'm very familiar with Ed Sessler
unfortunately,
Zae Brewer (07:39):
but Lisa's District House District 35 at KSU
actually lies in that district.
So like had an I said, we'regoing to work with Lisa, we're
going to help her win the seat.
The seat is newly drawn, itfavors her. And if she wins, she
will ultimately be the one torepresent KSU. So we attempted
to host a debate about two weeksbefore Election Day for her and
(08:04):
her Republican opponent Roberttrim. And what essentially
happened was they both agreed todo it on campus and like a week
before trim said he wanted tomove the location for what
reason we don't really knowbecause the location was
actually a very big auditorium.
But he ended up canceling andLisa debated an empty podium and
that made a lot of news stories.
(08:26):
And it was a lot but I canvasseda lot for Lisa she ended up
winning that seat. We had herout here just a couple days ago
for the Warnock rally on KSUcampus. And it's just been a
real honor working with her onglad to call her my friend and I
look forward to working with herfor KSU his best interest and
for Democrats. Now the Bordeauxcampaign back in the spring.
That was a tough race. As youknow, Lucy Macbeth defeated her
(08:50):
in that primary. And that was atough primary because the whole
situation about it was justreally it was an uncomfortable
thing. Because you know, hereyou had these two great women
who flipped to historicallyconservative districts and
Georgia pitted against eachother largely because of
Republican gerrymandering. Andso it was a hard environment.
Congresswoman Bordeaux kept herpositivity up. She still had her
(09:13):
spirits. But unfortunately, shelost that primary. But I don't
think that she's done inpolitics at all. I think she has
still has a big future ahead ofher.
Meral Clarke (09:22):
Terrific, and what are you doing now with the
Warnock campaign?
Zae Brewer (09:26):
So we actually just had him on campus a couple of
days ago on Monday, actually fora rally and meet and greet. It
was our third attempt to get himhere in I guess three times was
the charm. Because we got himhere. And he gave a rousing
speech. It was between two and400 students came out. It was
amazing. It was an honor hostinghim. I handed him my memoir and
(09:46):
my Sena you certificate beforehe left, his campaign said
they'll get it back to me. Ithink the rally really energized
students. And the reason why isbecause what I heard from a lot
of students was they felt likeby him coming it showed and it
proved that he was Is there andif he's reelected, he's going to
represent the students and haveour best interests at heart. You
talked a lot about his time atMorehouse in what he calls the
(10:09):
full faith scholarship. And Ithink that really resonated with
a lot of students here.
Meral Clarke (10:13):
I would have to agree that he's always been here
for the people of Georgia andwill continue to be here for the
people of Georgia. So I have tobacktrack for just a moment. You
have a memoir?
Zae Brewer (10:25):
No, I had Senator Warnock's memoir, and I handed
that and my United States Senateyou certificate, because
typically, in that program, bothof your Senators sign the
certificate. It's kind of atradition, but the thing that
happened was our program yearwas virtual because of hope.
Meral Clarke (10:39):
Okay, that makes more sense. Do you happen to
have any numbers on how many GenZ folks voted in the midterms?
Zae Brewer (10:46):
I do not know off the top of my head. I know in
Cobb County alone in the generalit was up over 10%. But I don't
think it was exceptionally high.
But I think that overall, theydid turn out. And the problem
that I saw with KSU, with ourvoter turnout, what it's kind of
hard on our end for bothparties, really, but really for
the Dems because of SB 202, isthat KSU was largely a commuting
(11:07):
school. So essentially, moststudents who go here live in
Georgia, and they come here andsome weekends, you know, they'll
go home. But anyway, the most ofthem live in Georgia. And what
will happen is they will keeptheir voter registration in
their home counties. And for alot of students who live let's
say Albany, or Savannah, gettingback a couple of hours on a
(11:30):
weekend, not only just in thefall semester, but even with
this runoff in a week, that'sgoing to be really hard for a
lot of them. And I even realizedthat myself, you know,
thankfully, I'm registered inDeKalb. So Snellville is a
Gwinnett city, but it's onesmall part of it. That's still
in DeKalb County. But I live inthat part that's in the cab, and
I was luckily able to voteSunday morning, right before I
(11:51):
came back to campus. But Irealized that it's really hard
for a lot of students becauseagain, to make a, let's say,
three hour trip home during thefirst week of finals, that's
really tough.
Meral Clarke (12:05):
I'm sure that makes a lot of sense. So turning
our attention to the GeorgiaNAACP, how are you working to
get young students of colorinvolved in the political
process?
Zae Brewer (12:17):
The interesting thing is, is that right after we
finish this, I have a KSU NAACPmeeting where I'll be
essentially talking about whathappened during the midterms, a
big part that I've been focusingon in the KSU. NAACP, during my
time as political action chairhas been education. And I find
going on with only a highschool, which is largely a
majority minority school, blackand brown students there, I
(12:39):
found that a lot of studentsdidn't really care to get
involved, and they didn't wantto get involved. One, because
they felt politics doesn'taffect anybody, or two, because
they simply just didn't know.
And that's the sentiment I getfrom a lot of students here at
KSU as well is that a lot ofstudents just don't know.
Thankfully, many do win the Dems
Meral Clarke (12:57):
Do you think it's apathy on the part of students?
on behalf of the dems, when Ihosted a voter registration
drive, most people that wetalked to were already
registered when they wereplanning to vote. So I think
that it's improving. But I'vebeen focusing a lot on
education, and why these racesmatter what each office does.
And what I'm going to be talkingabout tonight is what are the
(13:18):
consequences of these midtermsfor the next two years for
minorities, such as blackpeople, Hispanic and Latinos,
Native Americans and Asians? I'mgoing to be talking about that
tonight. But education issomething I've strongly been
focused on.
Zae Brewer (13:37):
I think that the big reason why is because a lot of
young people feel like thereisn't anybody for them in
government, I'm pretty sure youknow, I'm political not. So I'll
just randomly talk about, let'ssay, the Senate with my friends,
or the House of Representatives,and a lot of them will be like
they are so old they say thingslike nothing really gets done
(13:57):
for us, because we don't haveanybody representative of us.
And that same message. I don'tonly get from just young
students in general, I get fromstudents of color. And that's
one big reason why I was largelyimpressed in 2018 and 2020.
Because House of Representativesis more diverse than ever. And I
think that it's just gonna takea lot of students and young
(14:18):
people to realize that theymatter. And that they can make
change happen and even possiblyrun for office themselves. Or,
you know, just get involved justget out and canvass or talk to
people, the candidates win theelections, but they win because
of small volunteers. Because ofpeople like me, and people like
(14:39):
a six year old, retiredvolunteer, the ground game is
talking to people. And I thinktying into that that is why we
largely have lost ground andrural America in rural Georgia
as well, because a lot of thosepeople feel forgotten.
Meral Clarke (14:53):
And can you blame them? Because representation
matters and when you do haveoctogenarian is running the
country, it does present aproblem for younger generations.
Now, at the time of thisrecording representative Hakeem
Jeffries was just electedMinority Leader of the House
going into 2023, which is veryexciting. He's the first black
(15:19):
leader to be elected into thatposition. What are your thoughts
on that? And he's a younger guy.
He's active, he's progressive,he's energetic. Do you think
that might kickstart some youngfolks into getting involved?
Zae Brewer (15:32):
Yeah, very inspiring. And I think honestly,
he was the best pick to succeedare great champions, Speaker
Nancy Pelosi. And I have greatrespect for Speaker Pelosi,
because I think she realizedthat it's time to pass the
torch. And I think that's whatwe need more of in the country
is people need to come to theirsenses and realize that when
(15:52):
it's time for them to let a newgeneration lead, I think Hakeem
Jeffries, you know, for yearsnow, they've been saying he was
going to be Nancy Pelosisuccessor. I'm glad he is a
fresh face, young. And so Ithink that this new team is
definitely going to inspirepeople, because the thing is
about them is that not a lot ofpeople know about them. I'll be
(16:14):
honest, I know who HakeemJeffries is, but I haven't
really done my research into,you know, his life. And in a
way, I think that's refreshing.
Because now we learn about thesepeople. You know, for years,
people knew who Nancy Pelosiwas. They knew her as the first
woman speaker, the one who wonthe house back after, I believe
14 years because of George W.
(16:35):
Bush's unpopularity. And so I'mreally excited for his
leadership in the House. Andthis new set of party leaders
have
Meral Clarke (16:43):
Let's drill down to Georgia to our state, what's
it going to take for us to winthe state on the statewide level
with the General Assembly andstatewide offices, etc. From
your perspective as anexperienced and active Gen Z,
Politico? What are yourthoughts?
Zae Brewer (17:01):
I think that would Georgia Democrats have been
focused on really since the 2016election. I think that they've
been focused on winning suburbanvoters, right, Cobb, Gwinnett,
Rockdale counties like that.
counties that historically havebeen red, and we're again a big
contribution to President Bidenand winning the state senator
Warnock, Senator Ossoff winningCongresswoman McBath,
(17:23):
Congresswoman Bordeaux winning,they have flipped, therefore,
it's now and in most of thosestatewide races, the Democrats
won by comfortable margins inthose counties. And also on the
state legislature side, we'restarting to win more and more,
you know, including HouseDistrict 35, or Lisa Campbell
just flipped a big scene. Ithink now, what the goal should
(17:43):
be is to touch the rural votersbecause the rural voters are the
reason why Donald Trump waspresident for four years, the
rural voters felt heard by him.
And what's interesting about itis that he never lived a day
like them in his life, but madethem feel heard. They felt heard
by him. And they've had somebodyfor the first time in a long
(18:05):
time that made them feel likehe's for us. We need to start
campaigning in rural counties,we need to start trying to
contest rural house districts,rural senate districts. And
ultimately, that's how theDemocrats are gonna take back
that state, they have to keepthe strength in Atlanta in the
suburbs of Cobb Gwinnett. Andthey have to start contesting
(18:27):
Royer is if the Democrats wantany chance of taking back the
state, you don't have to winthese rural counties. But you
can't keep getting blown out 80to 20 in these rural counties,
Meral Clarke (18:39):
and that's what's happening. So it's distressing
to say the least. And
Zae Brewer (18:43):
you need both you need to keep the urban support
and the suburban support high.
But you have to contest ruralareas, right,
Meral Clarke (18:49):
because there are more rural areas than there are
Metro Atlanta, correct. I mean,we have a very big state, it's
159 counties. And it's one ofthe larger states in America, in
our nation. And it seems that alot of the metro Atlanta folks
are not concentrating on therest of the state, which is
(19:09):
where all the support comesfrom, oh, I wouldn't say all the
support, but where a lot ofsupport comes from for
Republican policy. So being in arural area ourselves up here in
the ninth congressionaldistrict, I completely agree
with you. And I'm hoping thatthe Democratic Party of Georgia
is listening to this podcastbecause it's so important to
concentrate on other areas ofthe state. So moving on, can you
(19:34):
elaborate a bit on your writingbackground and future plans
after you graduate?
Zae Brewer (19:39):
Yes. So I actually just became a guest contributor
with KSU Sentinel, which is ourschool newspaper.
Meral Clarke (19:46):
Congratulations.
That's exciting.
Zae Brewer (19:48):
Thank you so much.
So I've been contributingactually how to interview by the
case. You sent an email recentlyregarding the American Red Cross
and blood donations, but I justwrote my first opinion piece
talking about why Republicansflopped the midterms. And I've
been writing those I write for afriend of mine, her organization
called Lau women, which talksabout empowering women. And I
(20:08):
tend to give my perspective onhow young men can help empower
women politically and socially.
So I do a little bit of writingthere. And I am working on an op
ed for Senator Warnock'sgovernment office.
Meral Clarke (20:22):
Fantastic in all your spare time, right? Yes.
Zae Brewer (20:26):
But I enjoy it actually,
Meral Clarke (20:28):
What led you to get involved with the American
Red Cross? And thank you for allyou do? I'm a regular blood
donor. So I believe strongly intheir mission. Tell me about
that.
Zae Brewer (20:36):
So interesting story with this as well. Over the
summer, I realized KSU was oneof the only colleges in the
state without a Red Crosschapter. And I was a little
frustrated about that. I wasasking why. And so I contacted
people and student activitiesand all of that. And they were
like, we actually had one, butit's been inactive for four
years. But if you want torestart it, you can go ahead and
(20:58):
congratulations. You're thepresident. Now. I was like, Oh,
okay.
Meral Clarke (21:03):
So you have your mandate? Yes.
Zae Brewer (21:05):
Right. So I took it, it's been a little hard getting
it all restarted. It's hardrestarting an organization in
general, it's been really hard,especially with the midterms
this year. And also just kind ofsome bureaucratic stuff with
getting the organization reregistered on campus. So we
didn't really get to do muchthis semester, unfortunately.
But I really am looking forwardto getting it up and running
(21:28):
strong. Next semester, we'vealready been making plans to do
collaborations with otherorganizations on campus, such as
some of the Greek organizations,other organizations, so I'm
really excited for it. Iactually got involved in the Red
Cross for the first time when Idonated blood in high school.
And I just am really fascinatedby what the Red Cross does. And
I like to help the worldpolitically. But the Red Cross
(21:51):
helps me help the world just ingeneral, in a way I can just
help people with basic things,
Meral Clarke (21:57):
and also saving lives. There's a lot to be said
for that. So pre show, we hadtalked about your vision for a
new blue south. What does thatmean? And how will that come to
fruition?
Zae Brewer (22:11):
What it's going to take is, again, we have to use
the strategy that I statedearlier, in the sense of every
one of these states have tostart touching rural voters. I
think it's very clear NorthCarolina and Georgia and Texas,
even that we have made crucialground and southern suburban
(22:31):
areas. But we're not going towin unless we start contesting
rural areas and having theRepublicans have a run for their
money in these rural areas.
Meral Clarke (22:41):
And when you say contest, it's not in the
traditional form of contestingan election result. You're
talking about actuallypresenting the real contest.
Exactly. In the rural areas.
Okay. I just wanted to make thatclear. Go ahead. Yes.
Zae Brewer (22:54):
And so I think a lot of these states are flippable. I
mean, you look at thedemographics, the southern
region is probably if not first,second, I'm not for sure. But
it's a very diverse region,Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina, Texas, Louisiana.
These are all diverse states,states that the Democrats should
be doing a lot better in in alot of these in states like
(23:15):
Louisiana and North Carolina,they have Democratic governors.
So Democrats can win there. It'sjust taking the strategy and
competing with the Republicansputting serious challenges
against them. You got to thinkabout a lot of these states like
Louisiana eight years ago, in2014, they had a Democratic
senator and Mary Landrieu. Andin 2014, North Carolina had a
(23:36):
Democratic senator and KayHagan. So I think what's
happened is, especially sincethe Trump era after 2016, when
we saw how much Trump won by Ithink the national party just
gave up on and don't get mewrong. I think that this has
been the result of a long timeof rural areas being feeling
forgotten by Democrats, becausewe saw this trend happening over
(23:56):
the decades. But I think thatthat's what has to happen.
Meral Clarke (24:01):
So demographically. And I will say
this, and I'll just be perfectlyblunt about it. Demographically,
rural areas are vastly differentthan metropolitan areas. So is
it going to take a conservativeDemocrat, a moderate Democrat?
How do we talk to and I'll beblunt, older, white, rural
(24:24):
voters who consistently voteagainst their own self interest?
How do we fix our messaging inthat arena? I
Zae Brewer (24:31):
think that Democrats need to be talking about the
right issues with older whiteseniors. And what I mean by that
is not ignoring the othercritical issues that affect
everyone else in the entirecountry, but talking about
issues that pertain to them suchas health care, such as the
economy, you know, a lot ofthese seniors are living on
(24:52):
retirement pay, and not onlyjust rural white, older seniors,
rural whites in general,overwhelmingly vote Republican
and So I think that it's justabout, again, not only making
your presence known, but talkingabout things that they are
actually going to care about. Sokitchen table issues, kitchen
table issues,
Meral Clarke (25:10):
bread and butter.
Yep. And that's something thatwe don't tend to do. Yes, I
agree with you that needs tochange. And I'm hoping, again,
that the Democratic leadershipin the state is paying
attention. Right,
Zae Brewer (25:23):
then Senator Warnock, I think, since the race
got called for a runoff. He'sbeen doing exactly that. I
actually went to one of hisrallies in Cherokee County. So I
think the Georgia Democrats ingeneral are starting to
understand that you need tostart going to these areas, I
mean, Cherokee County, red redCounty, but that visit, it could
energize a lot of people. But Ithink we need to go beyond that.
(25:46):
And not just doing one or tworallies, we need to consistently
be everywhere in the state
Meral Clarke (25:50):
agreed. It takes a lot of resources, though, again,
yeah.
Zae Brewer (25:53):
And if you even look at Georgia, 14th, Marjorie
Taylor green one, and by a bigmargin, with Marcus flowers
shifted that district fivepoints to the left,
Meral Clarke (26:01):
that's helpful, I believe he garnered a bit over
30%. So we're slowly making
Zae Brewer (26:07):
inroads, right and slowly just take that strategy,
just gradually keep chipping atit. If you keep chipping at it,
let's say over the next 1020years, you're going to be
competitive in these places,you're going to even win a lot
Meral Clarke (26:20):
right? Well, we recently held an election panel,
of these places,which that episode is now
available across all platforms.
But the election panel was withthree Democratic leaders,
including our own Doug DeMoura,chair of the Fannin County
Democrats talking about thisvery subject and how statewide
Democrats tended to ignore thenumber one issue which was
(26:41):
inflation. For most voters inGeorgia, and they never
discussed it. They never talkedabout it. I've never heard them
talk about it. So that isdefinitely a strategy deficit, I
would say that we need to work
Zae Brewer (26:57):
on Yeah, I think that the Democrats need to start
talking about issues like thatmore, a lot of these issues that
Republicans are winning on oureducation, economy and crime.
And these are three issues thatthe Democrats have a better
perspective on. I mean, it'slargely known that the
Republicans economic beliefs arevery unpopular. That's just been
(27:18):
known for decades. But what theRepublicans have been doing is
taking the shift to socialissues as well. And so the
Democrats, we do really good oncampaigning on the social
issues, but stuff likeinflation, we need to really be
talking about our plans forthat, how we're going to fix it,
we need to be talking aboutcrime, talking about education a
lot more,
Meral Clarke (27:38):
I would have to completely agree with you on all
of those points, because we dotend to discuss overarching
social issues and not get downto the nitty gritty with us
voters. Yeah,
Zae Brewer (27:51):
because we are not competing with Republicans in a
lot of these areas. AndRepublicans are just telling a
lot of these rural voters abunch of baloney a bunch of
nonsense, and they believe itand you know why is because
we're not there to say well holdon a minute. That's not the
case. This is what we want foryou. This is what we're trying
to do for.
Meral Clarke (28:09):
Right, we should take every talking point they
have and dispute it. You know,it's all disputable. So that
definitely needs to be done.
Well, Zae could talk to you allnight are just so damn lucky to
have you. That's all I can say.
And
Zae Brewer (28:22):
I appreciate it. I'm really honored to be here. I'm
glad you all invited me here.
And I'm only 19, 20 in January.
But I really look forward notonly now but throughout my life
to helping others and makingthis country and state better.
Meral Clarke (28:37):
Well, you're definitely the one to do it. And
we'll definitely have you backon the show as well. So if
someone wants to learn moreabout you volunteer or just get
to know you better, where wouldyou send them to have a website
or where can people go?
Zae Brewer (28:50):
I do not have a website yet. I have a LinkedIn I
have a Twitter have anInstagram.
Meral Clarke (28:56):
Okay, I'll share with our listeners that Zae is
spelled Z A E. So people can atleast find you online with an E
not a y right? That's a greatname.
Zae Brewer (29:08):
My Instagram is just at zae brewers zae Brewer ber ew
er my Twitter is the ze Brewerand my LinkedIn is a brewer so
you can find me pretty easily.
Meral Clarke (29:20):
Okay, terrific.
And finally and I asked all myguests this question they tell
me it's the hardest question toanswer but tell us a fun fact
about yourself something notnecessarily related to your
political work or even your workwith the Red Cross which we
thank you for immensely but tellus something fun and
interesting. Just about Zae.
Zae Brewer (29:41):
I really love doing stuff like painting I like to
paint but I don't have a lot oftime to do it anymore. But I
love to paint when I can I doall this political work but I'm
still a college kid. I do stufflike play games still. You know,
I hang out with my friends allthe time. And I always make time
for I don't know how I do it. Alot of people ask me that all
the time but I have A lot ofhobbies I like to paint. I like
(30:01):
to play video games when I can.
I like to do little projects,you know, like make Christmas
cards or in the holidays andstuff. Yeah, you are truly a
Renaissance man say but onething that's definitely kept me
going is running. I love to run.
Meral Clarke (30:16):
There you go. Yes.
endorphins. Endorphins reallymake a difference. So thanks.
Well, thank you, Zae, forjoining us today and sharing
more about your critical work toadvance democratic goals and
policy. I'm Meral Clarke and onbehalf of our team, I'd like to
thank everyone for listening tothe North Georgia Blue Podcast.
To learn more about us and thework that we're doing. Visit us
(30:37):
online at Fannin County, Georgiademocrats.com. Share the North
Georgia Blue Podcast with yourfriends and family be sure to
subscribe and follow and if youenjoy our podcasts be a founding
patron and friend of the show atNorth Georgia Blue Podcast
podcast.com/patron with threedifferent giving levels to
(30:58):
choose from offering cool swagrecognition on the show and
website and valuable gift cardsto help us continue getting into
more good trouble.
Hello and welcome back to the North Georgia Blue
(00:03):
Podcast produced and distributedby the Fannin County Democratic
Party. I'm your host MeralClarke and we're getting into
some good trouble today with ourguest Zae Brewer Gen Z
democratic activist in metroAtlanta. Welcome to the show,
Zae. We're so happy you're here.
Zae Brewer (00:20):
Thank you. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
And I'm really honored to behere actually.
Meral Clarke (00:24):
Well, terrific.
We're honored to have you. Solet's let our listeners know a
little bit about you. A Georgianative Zae attends Kennesaw
State University or KSU, wherehe is a junior majoring in
political science. He is astudent leader, writer, activist
and advocate for a betterGeorgia and America. In 2020, he
served as a fellow for theGeorgia Democratic Party and is
(00:48):
currently serving as presidentand chair of the KSU Young
Democrats student representativefor the NAACP chancellor of
students president of theAmerican Red Cross on campus and
also sits on KSU StudentActivities Budget Advisory
Committee. Goodness, Zae when doyou have time to study?
Zae Brewer (01:10):
I get that question from everybody. I find time when
Meral Clarke (01:13):
Well, you've also received the United States
I can.
Senate youth program scholarshipwhile still in high school and
is one of two high schoolstudents represent Georgia and
was awarded the AJC cup in highschool. And that was in 2021, I
believe, yes, they served as anintern for the Gwinnett County
(01:33):
Democratic Party and campaignintern for Congresswoman Carolyn
Bordeaux. He currently has plansto attend law school after
graduation and continue servinghis country as an officer in the
armed forces. Thank you for yourservice and Zae hopes to be a
public servant in our state oneday, we should be so lucky. So
(01:53):
let's dive right in how and whendid you decide to become an
activist? And what sparked yourinterest in politics?
Zae Brewer (02:01):
Well, I remember 2016. And this is kind of how I
got involved in politics. Inparticular, my parents were
watching one of the Democraticdebates and I was just
fascinated by the clashesbetween Hillary Clinton and
Bernie Sanders. And I alsowatched the Republican side. And
I think that was definitely ainteresting and a year that
changed our country forever inthe direction of it. So seventh
(02:24):
grade me that I think I wasabout 12, or 13. And 2015 2016.
I watched the election, and Iended up bawling my eyes out
when Secretary Clinton lost. Andthen for two years after that, I
watched where the country wasgoing under President Trump.
Then in 2018, after StaceyAbrams was defeated, the first
(02:45):
time I said, You know what, I'mgoing to try to get involved the
next election cycle in 2020. Andthen COVID happened. And while
COVID was a very horrible thing,and you know, it really affected
me during my senior year, mebeing a person who loves school
and loves learning and is anextrovert. Honestly, I probably
wouldn't have gotten my realentry into politics. Because at
(03:08):
the time, you know, I was stilla minor. I couldn't drive yet.
And so having all that campaignstuff online, it really helped
me get involved. And it was thefirst time I volunteered for
campaigns and the dems. Andyeah, that's pretty much how I
got into it. And then like yousaid, in my intro in 2022, this
election cycle, I ended up doinga lot more yet. Last year, when
(03:29):
I came to KSU. I actuallystarted out serving as the event
Secretary Before being electedpresident this year. And you
know, I was a campaign enter forCongresswoman Bordeaux. And I've
gotten so much experienceworking as chair at KSU. And
it's really been life changing.
And the interesting thing aboutit is I didn't even want it at
first, how I even got it waskind of a big, I wasn't
(03:49):
expecting it, but it happenedanyway. Yes. Essentially, what
happened is I was the youngestofficer in the Dems last year at
KSU. And I was the youngest Iwas 18. Just got here. And I
also served as the youngestassociate justice on the case of
the Supreme Court in history,all the officers were like, Hey,
so we're graduating, or we'renot going to run again. So it's
(04:12):
just yours. And I ended uphaving to run and I got it. And
I first remember thinking when Iwas taking that oath to serve as
a party chair here, what have Igotten myself into, but I've
grown to really like it. So manyopportunities have come from
serving just in this year alone.
So I'm really grateful for it.
But that's pretty much how I gotinto it.
Meral Clarke (04:32):
Fantastic. Well, I'm happy to hear it. And
they're lucky to have you there.
So I wanted to ask you aboutyour thoughts on the midterms
and why none of our candidatesbroke 50% of the vote your
personal thoughts in yourthoughts as a student activist
and what needs to change forDemocrats to get statewide
candidates elected?
Zae Brewer (04:53):
I think obviously, it was a big disappointment for
Democrats considering whathappened in the midterms with
their statewide candidates. Youlook at that ticket. There was
so much talent, so muchdiversity and so much experience
in so many qualified candidates.
I met most of them because weactually hosted the most of them
here at KSU. And I ended upmeeting a few others elsewhere,
but so much talent. And I thinkthe party needs to do a
(05:15):
reevaluation of what is goingwrong on our statewide and in
particular with the down ballotraces. Now, I think the Senate
race was an interesting thing,because I think what we're
seeing is that Senator Warnockhas some that natural appeal
that people say that PresidentObama had, I think he has that
and people just trust himnaturally. And so while he came
(05:38):
so close to hitting that 50,against Herschel Walker, I think
a lot of Republicans came outthat day to vote against Stacey
Abrams, and just checked offWalker in My interpretation is
that there were just a lot offrustrated Republicans who
really approve of Kemp and theywanted to keep him there. And a
lot of them just also voted forWalker. I don't think that will
(05:59):
be the case for the runoff,though.
Meral Clarke (06:02):
Right. And this will actually air after the
runoff, just so you're aware.
But yes, it's very exciting tohave Senator Warnock go back to
the Senate. It's just soimportant. It really is. And we
need that extra padding,especially with the divided
Senate. So it would be 50 plusone, that would make a huge
difference. So let's chat aboutyour work with Georgia
(06:22):
Democrats. Tell us about yourexperience working with state
representative elect LisaCampbell for Georgia House
District 35, your internshipwith Congresswoman Bordeaux and
what you're doing now for theWarnock campaign. Tell us about
that.
Zae Brewer (06:39):
Well, first off for my friend Lisa Campbell, it was
a real honor working with herand helping her get elected. The
first time I spoke with her wasover the summer because of the
Dems at KSU we want to prepare aseries of forums. So we had a
congressional one which featuredMarcus Flowers, Antonio Daza and
bought Christian. We also had astatewide one which featured
(07:01):
Ginny Slavs, Robinson, WilliamBodie, and Nikita Hemingway,
ginger in and being wind sentrepresentatives. But we also had
a state legislature forum and webasically invited about seven
candidates from around Cobb,Marietta, Kennesaw, a little bit
of Cherokee out and we did thatto help the students get a
(07:22):
perspective on why local racesare important. Lisa likes to
emphasize that the seat that shejust won was lost two years ago
by I believe about three 400votes to Ed Sessler who by the
way, is the author of theheartbeat bill,
Meral Clarke (07:36):
Yes I'm very familiar with Ed Sessler
unfortunately,
Zae Brewer (07:39):
but Lisa's District House District 35 at KSU
actually lies in that district.
So like had an I said, we'regoing to work with Lisa, we're
going to help her win the seat.
The seat is newly drawn, itfavors her. And if she wins, she
will ultimately be the one torepresent KSU. So we attempted
to host a debate about two weeksbefore Election Day for her and
(08:04):
her Republican opponent Roberttrim. And what essentially
happened was they both agreed todo it on campus and like a week
before trim said he wanted tomove the location for what
reason we don't really knowbecause the location was
actually a very big auditorium.
But he ended up canceling andLisa debated an empty podium and
that made a lot of news stories.
(08:26):
And it was a lot but I canvasseda lot for Lisa she ended up
winning that seat. We had herout here just a couple days ago
for the Warnock rally on KSUcampus. And it's just been a
real honor working with her onglad to call her my friend and I
look forward to working with herfor KSU his best interest and
for Democrats. Now the Bordeauxcampaign back in the spring.
That was a tough race. As youknow, Lucy Macbeth defeated her
(08:50):
in that primary. And that was atough primary because the whole
situation about it was justreally it was an uncomfortable
thing. Because you know, hereyou had these two great women
who flipped to historicallyconservative districts and
Georgia pitted against eachother largely because of
Republican gerrymandering. Andso it was a hard environment.
Congresswoman Bordeaux kept herpositivity up. She still had her
(09:13):
spirits. But unfortunately, shelost that primary. But I don't
think that she's done inpolitics at all. I think she has
still has a big future ahead ofher.
Meral Clarke (09:22):
Terrific, and what are you doing now with the
Warnock campaign?
Zae Brewer (09:26):
So we actually just had him on campus a couple of
days ago on Monday, actually fora rally and meet and greet. It
was our third attempt to get himhere in I guess three times was
the charm. Because we got himhere. And he gave a rousing
speech. It was between two and400 students came out. It was
amazing. It was an honor hostinghim. I handed him my memoir and
(09:46):
my Sena you certificate beforehe left, his campaign said
they'll get it back to me. Ithink the rally really energized
students. And the reason why isbecause what I heard from a lot
of students was they felt likeby him coming it showed and it
proved that he was Is there andif he's reelected, he's going to
represent the students and haveour best interests at heart. You
talked a lot about his time atMorehouse in what he calls the
(10:09):
full faith scholarship. And Ithink that really resonated with
a lot of students here.
Meral Clarke (10:13):
I would have to agree that he's always been here
for the people of Georgia andwill continue to be here for the
people of Georgia. So I have tobacktrack for just a moment. You
have a memoir?
Zae Brewer (10:25):
No, I had Senator Warnock's memoir, and I handed
that and my United States Senateyou certificate, because
typically, in that program, bothof your Senators sign the
certificate. It's kind of atradition, but the thing that
happened was our program yearwas virtual because of hope.
Meral Clarke (10:39):
Okay, that makes more sense. Do you happen to
have any numbers on how many GenZ folks voted in the midterms?
Zae Brewer (10:46):
I do not know off the top of my head. I know in
Cobb County alone in the generalit was up over 10%. But I don't
think it was exceptionally high.
But I think that overall, theydid turn out. And the problem
that I saw with KSU, with ourvoter turnout, what it's kind of
hard on our end for bothparties, really, but really for
the Dems because of SB 202, isthat KSU was largely a commuting
(11:07):
school. So essentially, moststudents who go here live in
Georgia, and they come here andsome weekends, you know, they'll
go home. But anyway, the most ofthem live in Georgia. And what
will happen is they will keeptheir voter registration in
their home counties. And for alot of students who live let's
say Albany, or Savannah, gettingback a couple of hours on a
(11:30):
weekend, not only just in thefall semester, but even with
this runoff in a week, that'sgoing to be really hard for a
lot of them. And I even realizedthat myself, you know,
thankfully, I'm registered inDeKalb. So Snellville is a
Gwinnett city, but it's onesmall part of it. That's still
in DeKalb County. But I live inthat part that's in the cab, and
I was luckily able to voteSunday morning, right before I
(11:51):
came back to campus. But Irealized that it's really hard
for a lot of students becauseagain, to make a, let's say,
three hour trip home during thefirst week of finals, that's
really tough.
Meral Clarke (12:05):
I'm sure that makes a lot of sense. So turning
our attention to the GeorgiaNAACP, how are you working to
get young students of colorinvolved in the political
process?
Zae Brewer (12:17):
The interesting thing is, is that right after we
finish this, I have a KSU NAACPmeeting where I'll be
essentially talking about whathappened during the midterms, a
big part that I've been focusingon in the KSU. NAACP, during my
time as political action chairhas been education. And I find
going on with only a highschool, which is largely a
majority minority school, blackand brown students there, I
(12:39):
found that a lot of studentsdidn't really care to get
involved, and they didn't wantto get involved. One, because
they felt politics doesn'taffect anybody, or two, because
they simply just didn't know.
And that's the sentiment I getfrom a lot of students here at
KSU as well is that a lot ofstudents just don't know.
Thankfully, many do win the Dems
Meral Clarke (12:57):
Do you think it's apathy on the part of students?
on behalf of the dems, when Ihosted a voter registration
drive, most people that wetalked to were already
registered when they wereplanning to vote. So I think
that it's improving. But I'vebeen focusing a lot on
education, and why these racesmatter what each office does.
And what I'm going to be talkingabout tonight is what are the
(13:18):
consequences of these midtermsfor the next two years for
minorities, such as blackpeople, Hispanic and Latinos,
Native Americans and Asians? I'mgoing to be talking about that
tonight. But education issomething I've strongly been
focused on.
Zae Brewer (13:37):
I think that the big reason why is because a lot of
young people feel like thereisn't anybody for them in
government, I'm pretty sure youknow, I'm political not. So I'll
just randomly talk about, let'ssay, the Senate with my friends,
or the House of Representatives,and a lot of them will be like
they are so old they say thingslike nothing really gets done
(13:57):
for us, because we don't haveanybody representative of us.
And that same message. I don'tonly get from just young
students in general, I get fromstudents of color. And that's
one big reason why I was largelyimpressed in 2018 and 2020.
Because House of Representativesis more diverse than ever. And I
think that it's just gonna takea lot of students and young
(14:18):
people to realize that theymatter. And that they can make
change happen and even possiblyrun for office themselves. Or,
you know, just get involved justget out and canvass or talk to
people, the candidates win theelections, but they win because
of small volunteers. Because ofpeople like me, and people like
(14:39):
a six year old, retiredvolunteer, the ground game is
talking to people. And I thinktying into that that is why we
largely have lost ground andrural America in rural Georgia
as well, because a lot of thosepeople feel forgotten.
Meral Clarke (14:53):
And can you blame them? Because representation
matters and when you do haveoctogenarian is running the
country, it does present aproblem for younger generations.
Now, at the time of thisrecording representative Hakeem
Jeffries was just electedMinority Leader of the House
going into 2023, which is veryexciting. He's the first black
(15:19):
leader to be elected into thatposition. What are your thoughts
on that? And he's a younger guy.
He's active, he's progressive,he's energetic. Do you think
that might kickstart some youngfolks into getting involved?
Zae Brewer (15:32):
Yeah, very inspiring. And I think honestly,
he was the best pick to succeedare great champions, Speaker
Nancy Pelosi. And I have greatrespect for Speaker Pelosi,
because I think she realizedthat it's time to pass the
torch. And I think that's whatwe need more of in the country
is people need to come to theirsenses and realize that when
(15:52):
it's time for them to let a newgeneration lead, I think Hakeem
Jeffries, you know, for yearsnow, they've been saying he was
going to be Nancy Pelosisuccessor. I'm glad he is a
fresh face, young. And so Ithink that this new team is
definitely going to inspirepeople, because the thing is
about them is that not a lot ofpeople know about them. I'll be
(16:14):
honest, I know who HakeemJeffries is, but I haven't
really done my research into,you know, his life. And in a
way, I think that's refreshing.
Because now we learn about thesepeople. You know, for years,
people knew who Nancy Pelosiwas. They knew her as the first
woman speaker, the one who wonthe house back after, I believe
14 years because of George W.
(16:35):
Bush's unpopularity. And so I'mreally excited for his
leadership in the House. Andthis new set of party leaders
have
Meral Clarke (16:43):
Let's drill down to Georgia to our state, what's
it going to take for us to winthe state on the statewide level
with the General Assembly andstatewide offices, etc. From
your perspective as anexperienced and active Gen Z,
Politico? What are yourthoughts?
Zae Brewer (17:01):
I think that would Georgia Democrats have been
focused on really since the 2016election. I think that they've
been focused on winning suburbanvoters, right, Cobb, Gwinnett,
Rockdale counties like that.
counties that historically havebeen red, and we're again a big
contribution to President Bidenand winning the state senator
Warnock, Senator Ossoff winningCongresswoman McBath,
(17:23):
Congresswoman Bordeaux winning,they have flipped, therefore,
it's now and in most of thosestatewide races, the Democrats
won by comfortable margins inthose counties. And also on the
state legislature side, we'restarting to win more and more,
you know, including HouseDistrict 35, or Lisa Campbell
just flipped a big scene. Ithink now, what the goal should
(17:43):
be is to touch the rural votersbecause the rural voters are the
reason why Donald Trump waspresident for four years, the
rural voters felt heard by him.
And what's interesting about itis that he never lived a day
like them in his life, but madethem feel heard. They felt heard
by him. And they've had somebodyfor the first time in a long
(18:05):
time that made them feel likehe's for us. We need to start
campaigning in rural counties,we need to start trying to
contest rural house districts,rural senate districts. And
ultimately, that's how theDemocrats are gonna take back
that state, they have to keepthe strength in Atlanta in the
suburbs of Cobb Gwinnett. Andthey have to start contesting
(18:27):
Royer is if the Democrats wantany chance of taking back the
state, you don't have to winthese rural counties. But you
can't keep getting blown out 80to 20 in these rural counties,
Meral Clarke (18:39):
and that's what's happening. So it's distressing
to say the least. And
Zae Brewer (18:43):
you need both you need to keep the urban support
and the suburban support high.
But you have to contest ruralareas, right,
Meral Clarke (18:49):
because there are more rural areas than there are
Metro Atlanta, correct. I mean,we have a very big state, it's
159 counties. And it's one ofthe larger states in America, in
our nation. And it seems that alot of the metro Atlanta folks
are not concentrating on therest of the state, which is
(19:09):
where all the support comesfrom, oh, I wouldn't say all the
support, but where a lot ofsupport comes from for
Republican policy. So being in arural area ourselves up here in
the ninth congressionaldistrict, I completely agree
with you. And I'm hoping thatthe Democratic Party of Georgia
is listening to this podcastbecause it's so important to
concentrate on other areas ofthe state. So moving on, can you
(19:34):
elaborate a bit on your writingbackground and future plans
after you graduate?
Zae Brewer (19:39):
Yes. So I actually just became a guest contributor
with KSU Sentinel, which is ourschool newspaper.
Meral Clarke (19:46):
Congratulations.
That's exciting.
Zae Brewer (19:48):
Thank you so much.
So I've been contributingactually how to interview by the
case. You sent an email recentlyregarding the American Red Cross
and blood donations, but I justwrote my first opinion piece
talking about why Republicansflopped the midterms. And I've
been writing those I write for afriend of mine, her organization
called Lau women, which talksabout empowering women. And I
(20:08):
tend to give my perspective onhow young men can help empower
women politically and socially.
So I do a little bit of writingthere. And I am working on an op
ed for Senator Warnock'sgovernment office.
Meral Clarke (20:22):
Fantastic in all your spare time, right? Yes.
Zae Brewer (20:26):
But I enjoy it actually,
Meral Clarke (20:28):
What led you to get involved with the American
Red Cross? And thank you for allyou do? I'm a regular blood
donor. So I believe strongly intheir mission. Tell me about
that.
Zae Brewer (20:36):
So interesting story with this as well. Over the
summer, I realized KSU was oneof the only colleges in the
state without a Red Crosschapter. And I was a little
frustrated about that. I wasasking why. And so I contacted
people and student activitiesand all of that. And they were
like, we actually had one, butit's been inactive for four
years. But if you want torestart it, you can go ahead and
(20:58):
congratulations. You're thepresident. Now. I was like, Oh,
okay.
Meral Clarke (21:03):
So you have your mandate? Yes.
Zae Brewer (21:05):
Right. So I took it, it's been a little hard getting
it all restarted. It's hardrestarting an organization in
general, it's been really hard,especially with the midterms
this year. And also just kind ofsome bureaucratic stuff with
getting the organization reregistered on campus. So we
didn't really get to do muchthis semester, unfortunately.
But I really am looking forwardto getting it up and running
(21:28):
strong. Next semester, we'vealready been making plans to do
collaborations with otherorganizations on campus, such as
some of the Greek organizations,other organizations, so I'm
really excited for it. Iactually got involved in the Red
Cross for the first time when Idonated blood in high school.
And I just am really fascinatedby what the Red Cross does. And
I like to help the worldpolitically. But the Red Cross
(21:51):
helps me help the world just ingeneral, in a way I can just
help people with basic things,
Meral Clarke (21:57):
and also saving lives. There's a lot to be said
for that. So pre show, we hadtalked about your vision for a
new blue south. What does thatmean? And how will that come to
fruition?
Zae Brewer (22:11):
What it's going to take is, again, we have to use
the strategy that I statedearlier, in the sense of every
one of these states have tostart touching rural voters. I
think it's very clear NorthCarolina and Georgia and Texas,
even that we have made crucialground and southern suburban
(22:31):
areas. But we're not going towin unless we start contesting
rural areas and having theRepublicans have a run for their
money in these rural areas.
Meral Clarke (22:41):
And when you say contest, it's not in the
traditional form of contestingan election result. You're
talking about actuallypresenting the real contest.
Exactly. In the rural areas.
Okay. I just wanted to make thatclear. Go ahead. Yes.
Zae Brewer (22:54):
And so I think a lot of these states are flippable. I
mean, you look at thedemographics, the southern
region is probably if not first,second, I'm not for sure. But
it's a very diverse region,Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina, Texas, Louisiana.
These are all diverse states,states that the Democrats should
be doing a lot better in in alot of these in states like
(23:15):
Louisiana and North Carolina,they have Democratic governors.
So Democrats can win there. It'sjust taking the strategy and
competing with the Republicansputting serious challenges
against them. You got to thinkabout a lot of these states like
Louisiana eight years ago, in2014, they had a Democratic
senator and Mary Landrieu. Andin 2014, North Carolina had a
(23:36):
Democratic senator and KayHagan. So I think what's
happened is, especially sincethe Trump era after 2016, when
we saw how much Trump won by Ithink the national party just
gave up on and don't get mewrong. I think that this has
been the result of a long timeof rural areas being feeling
forgotten by Democrats, becausewe saw this trend happening over
(23:56):
the decades. But I think thatthat's what has to happen.
Meral Clarke (24:01):
So demographically. And I will say
this, and I'll just be perfectlyblunt about it. Demographically,
rural areas are vastly differentthan metropolitan areas. So is
it going to take a conservativeDemocrat, a moderate Democrat?
How do we talk to and I'll beblunt, older, white, rural
(24:24):
voters who consistently voteagainst their own self interest?
How do we fix our messaging inthat arena? I
Zae Brewer (24:31):
think that Democrats need to be talking about the
right issues with older whiteseniors. And what I mean by that
is not ignoring the othercritical issues that affect
everyone else in the entirecountry, but talking about
issues that pertain to them suchas health care, such as the
economy, you know, a lot ofthese seniors are living on
(24:52):
retirement pay, and not onlyjust rural white, older seniors,
rural whites in general,overwhelmingly vote Republican
and So I think that it's justabout, again, not only making
your presence known, but talkingabout things that they are
actually going to care about. Sokitchen table issues, kitchen
table issues,
Meral Clarke (25:10):
bread and butter.
Yep. And that's something thatwe don't tend to do. Yes, I
agree with you that needs tochange. And I'm hoping, again,
that the Democratic leadershipin the state is paying
attention. Right,
Zae Brewer (25:23):
then Senator Warnock, I think, since the race
got called for a runoff. He'sbeen doing exactly that. I
actually went to one of hisrallies in Cherokee County. So I
think the Georgia Democrats ingeneral are starting to
understand that you need tostart going to these areas, I
mean, Cherokee County, red redCounty, but that visit, it could
energize a lot of people. But Ithink we need to go beyond that.
(25:46):
And not just doing one or tworallies, we need to consistently
be everywhere in the state
Meral Clarke (25:50):
agreed. It takes a lot of resources, though, again,
yeah.
Zae Brewer (25:53):
And if you even look at Georgia, 14th, Marjorie
Taylor green one, and by a bigmargin, with Marcus flowers
shifted that district fivepoints to the left,
Meral Clarke (26:01):
that's helpful, I believe he garnered a bit over
30%. So we're slowly making
Zae Brewer (26:07):
inroads, right and slowly just take that strategy,
just gradually keep chipping atit. If you keep chipping at it,
let's say over the next 1020years, you're going to be
competitive in these places,you're going to even win a lot
Meral Clarke (26:20):
right? Well, we recently held an election panel,
of these places,which that episode is now
available across all platforms.
But the election panel was withthree Democratic leaders,
including our own Doug DeMoura,chair of the Fannin County
Democrats talking about thisvery subject and how statewide
Democrats tended to ignore thenumber one issue which was
(26:41):
inflation. For most voters inGeorgia, and they never
discussed it. They never talkedabout it. I've never heard them
talk about it. So that isdefinitely a strategy deficit, I
would say that we need to work
Zae Brewer (26:57):
on Yeah, I think that the Democrats need to start
talking about issues like thatmore, a lot of these issues that
Republicans are winning on oureducation, economy and crime.
And these are three issues thatthe Democrats have a better
perspective on. I mean, it'slargely known that the
Republicans economic beliefs arevery unpopular. That's just been
(27:18):
known for decades. But what theRepublicans have been doing is
taking the shift to socialissues as well. And so the
Democrats, we do really good oncampaigning on the social
issues, but stuff likeinflation, we need to really be
talking about our plans forthat, how we're going to fix it,
we need to be talking aboutcrime, talking about education a
lot more,
Meral Clarke (27:38):
I would have to completely agree with you on all
of those points, because we dotend to discuss overarching
social issues and not get downto the nitty gritty with us
voters. Yeah,
Zae Brewer (27:51):
because we are not competing with Republicans in a
lot of these areas. AndRepublicans are just telling a
lot of these rural voters abunch of baloney a bunch of
nonsense, and they believe itand you know why is because
we're not there to say well holdon a minute. That's not the
case. This is what we want foryou. This is what we're trying
to do for.
Meral Clarke (28:09):
Right, we should take every talking point they
have and dispute it. You know,it's all disputable. So that
definitely needs to be done.
Well, Zae could talk to you allnight are just so damn lucky to
have you. That's all I can say.
And
Zae Brewer (28:22):
I appreciate it. I'm really honored to be here. I'm
glad you all invited me here.
And I'm only 19, 20 in January.
But I really look forward notonly now but throughout my life
to helping others and makingthis country and state better.
Meral Clarke (28:37):
Well, you're definitely the one to do it. And
we'll definitely have you backon the show as well. So if
someone wants to learn moreabout you volunteer or just get
to know you better, where wouldyou send them to have a website
or where can people go?
Zae Brewer (28:50):
I do not have a website yet. I have a LinkedIn I
have a Twitter have anInstagram.
Meral Clarke (28:56):
Okay, I'll share with our listeners that Zae is
spelled Z A E. So people can atleast find you online with an E
not a y right? That's a greatname.
Zae Brewer (29:08):
My Instagram is just at zae brewers zae Brewer ber ew
er my Twitter is the ze Brewerand my LinkedIn is a brewer so
you can find me pretty easily.
Meral Clarke (29:20):
Okay, terrific.
And finally and I asked all myguests this question they tell
me it's the hardest question toanswer but tell us a fun fact
about yourself something notnecessarily related to your
political work or even your workwith the Red Cross which we
thank you for immensely but tellus something fun and
interesting. Just about Zae.
Zae Brewer (29:41):
I really love doing stuff like painting I like to
paint but I don't have a lot oftime to do it anymore. But I
love to paint when I can I doall this political work but I'm
still a college kid. I do stufflike play games still. You know,
I hang out with my friends allthe time. And I always make time
for I don't know how I do it. Alot of people ask me that all
the time but I have A lot ofhobbies I like to paint. I like
(30:01):
to play video games when I can.
I like to do little projects,you know, like make Christmas
cards or in the holidays andstuff. Yeah, you are truly a
Renaissance man say but onething that's definitely kept me
going is running. I love to run.
Meral Clarke (30:16):
There you go. Yes.
endorphins. Endorphins reallymake a difference. So thanks.
Well, thank you, Zae, forjoining us today and sharing
more about your critical work toadvance democratic goals and
policy. I'm Meral Clarke and onbehalf of our team, I'd like to
thank everyone for listening tothe North Georgia Blue Podcast.
To learn more about us and thework that we're doing. Visit us
(30:37):
online at Fannin County, Georgiademocrats.com. Share the North
Georgia Blue Podcast with yourfriends and family be sure to
subscribe and follow and if youenjoy our podcasts be a founding
patron and friend of the show atNorth Georgia Blue Podcast
podcast.com/patron with threedifferent giving levels to
(30:58):
choose from offering cool swagrecognition on the show and
website and valuable gift cardsto help us continue getting into
more good trouble.
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