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December 14, 2024 • 47 mins

Michelle Brandt, candidate for South Carolina's House Seat 113 and Vice Chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, joins us to share her insights on running in a special election scheduled for January 21st. With a focus on critical issues such as affordable childcare, stormwater drainage, and gun violence, Michelle emphasizes the importance of community engagement and support for working families. She reflects on her journey in politics, highlighting her grassroots activism and commitment to public service, which began with food distribution efforts during the pandemic. As she prepares for the upcoming election, Michelle discusses the challenges of campaigning in a competitive primary and the necessity of building a strong support network. Listeners will gain a deeper understanding of her vision for the district and her determination to address the pressing needs of her constituents.


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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:38):
The All About Nothing podcastmay have language and content that
isn't appropriate for some.
Listener discretion is advised.
Welcome, nothingers, toanother episode of the All About
Nothing podcast.
This is episode number 234.
I am Barrick Gruber.
I am Zach King.
All right, welcome, Zach.
We're going to welcome ourguest, Michelle Brand, who is the
candidate for South Carolina'sHouse Seat 113 and Vice Chair of

(01:01):
the South Carolina DemocraticParty Department of Democrats.
That's.
That was where I was.
I think I was going the Department.
Of Democrats real quick.
It's part of the SouthCarolina mental health facility here
in Columbia.
Potentially.
It feels like it right now.
Seeing me soon.

(01:22):
Yeah.
I want to thank Zach Boyd fromFamous at Garnet for being on with
us last week.
We had a really good time withhim and he's done a lot for our social
media in recent days becausehis videos that we've been posting
have been getting some traction.
In fact, there has been arequest on social media to do a series

(01:43):
with Famously Garnet,specifically about everything.
All of the tea that wasspilled that could be spilled about
Will Muschamp's time as theSouth Carolina head coach.
That old so and so.
Yeah, I'd love to see about that.
That would be fun.
I'm thinking.
I'm thinking a three partseries in with.

(02:04):
With Garnet.
Garnet.
Famously Garnet.
I would love to go around townand just be like, what a must champ
do to you.
And he kicked my dog.
Yep.
Came right out of there andjust kicked him.
Yeah.
What did he do?
He.
He left me a $2 tip on a $55 bill.
Yeah, there he is.
He must champ you.
So I want to.

(02:25):
I got champs real quick.
I said I was going to do it,but I'm not.
But I was going to wear the Tshirt of Eddie for you, Zach, but
I didn't wear it because thisis not the episode before Christmas.
So.
Yeah, I saw Eddie the Elf.
Oh, you did see it.
All right, well, just.
Just a reminder.
You all can check out Eddiethe Elf as well as all of the other

(02:45):
designs that are availableover at ZJZ Designs.
You can check out them at ZJZDesigns.com a bunch of sweaters,
T shirts, gift ideas againfeaturing Eddie the Elf that you
can find over there at their website.
Also want to remind everybodyever play sports and social.
The Tuesday bowling sign upfor Bolero is going to end on register.

(03:06):
You can register by December 19th.
You want to do that becausethis league is definitely going to
sell out.
Our team bowl of duty will beplaying in the winter league, so
check that out.
Everplaysocial.com all right.
This week we are thrilled towelcome back someone who's no stranger
to the podcast, MichelleBrand, the third vice chair of the
South Carolina DemocraticParty, who is now running for South

(03:26):
Carolina's House ofRepresentatives in special election
on January 21st for DecemberDistrict 113.
We first met Michelle back inAugust of 2023 at the Greenwood County
Democratic Party breakfast,where we had the pleasure of connecting
with her alongside Bill Kimlerand Dr.
Jamil Brooks, hosts of Black,White and Blue in the South.
Her passion for public serviceand dedication to South Carolina's

(03:47):
future were evident then, andthey're even more inspiring today
as she takes on the excitingnew challenge of running for State
House representative.
So we're going to join.
We're going to welcomeMichelle to the show.
Michelle, thank you for beinghere with us.
We're very excited to have youas an actual guest, not just Bill
saying, barrett, sit next to Michelle.

(04:08):
I'm glad you noticed thatbecause I was like, oh, I had more
to say.
It's all good.
I'm glad I'm here now as anofficial guest.
That's right.
We.
I.
There were.
There were.
I guess, let's see.
You have been the vice chairsince May, correct, Or since April
of 2022?

(04:29):
Of 20.
May of 2022.
And how is that going?
Well, we're coming to the endof that, but it has been an exciting
term.
I'll say.
I didn't.
When I ran, I didn't know oreven think in my head about the presidential
election.
I didn't know about the dnc.

(04:50):
I mean, I was aware that thatwas something that happened, but
I didn't know, like, how bigof a deal it was to be in my position
in such a.
Interesting time in politics,especially Carolina.
So the position has warrantedme a lot of opportunity I don't think
I would have had otherwise.
So, yeah, it's been cool.
And it's also been rough.

(05:11):
You know, being in leadership,you get blamed for everything, but
I just try to do my part and,and show my receipts.
Like I've been out here tryingto do some stuff.
Yeah.
So just so you know, none ofthose emails that I sent that sounded
angry were directed at you.
Okay.
Okay.

(05:32):
So here's the thing aboutCrystal, and I adore her.
I do.
But her name isn't spelled Crystal.
It's spelled Crystale.
And every time I talked toher, she never corrected me.
So for months, like, I'd hearher introduced and not pay any attention
to it.
I would just be like, oh,Crystal Spain.

(05:53):
And then I'm literally talkingsomewhere, and Matt pokes me in the
shoulder and he goes, hey,it's Crystal, not Cristale.
I was like, why didn't shecorrect me?
Oh, she's much more patientthan I am.
I would have corrected you thefirst time.
Absolutely.
So you.
You made the decision to runfor the special election.

(06:16):
Why is this seat open?
So Marvin Pendarvis, he hadthe seat previously, and he got into
some legal trouble and endedup resigning.
He held a press conference inOctober, but he officially resigned
November 7th.
So it's open and I'm runningfor it.

(06:37):
Well, there's a decentpossibility that the House seat for
my district is going to beopen because I'm represented by RJ
May, who is also in some legal trouble.
Okay.
Just a little.
Yeah.
His house was raided by theFBI and department or.
And the Homeland SecurityInvestigations Group for potential

(07:00):
child endangerment, which, youknow, seems not to accuse anybody
or make any unwarrantedallegations, but seems to be an issue
with the Freedom Caucus.
Anyway, that is my opinion.
Are you going to run for it?
Yeah, I think that I will backwhoever it is that I can talk into

(07:26):
running for it.
The election season for me, Iwas glad to see, was over on November
6 and to prepare for that and,you know, speaking to you directly
about it, like, the idea ofgoing from the election, even as
disappointing as it was in alot of cases, to now rolling right

(07:49):
back into it, but this time, you're.
You're directly involved.
This is you.
Yep.
How.
How did that go over with the family?
Whoo.
It was tough.
For those of you that don'tknow, I have a five month old baby,
his name is Arthur, and I.
When the news first brokeabout Marvin back in April, I had

(08:11):
been asked by a few people torun, and I was like, y'all know I'm
pregnant, right?
But I thought about it, and Iwas like, you know what?
I would regret it the rest ofmy life if I didn't try.
So I had a lot ofconversations with my husband.
We made sure that we had abetter social support infrastructure
this time.
First time I ran, it was justkind of, like, chaotic all the time.

(08:31):
And, you know, after puttingcertain things in place, coming up
with a loose kind of schedule,we were like, okay, I guess this
is going to happen.
So things kind of fell intoplace, but it was definitely a family
decision to do this.
Yeah, I couldn't do this by myself.
My husband has gone above andbeyond to support me throughout my

(08:52):
campaign.
Yeah, I'd have to imaginethat's a lot.
He's home with the threelittle ones by himself often in the
evenings while I'm out goingto neighborhood meetings and talking
to people.
How is.
Are we.
Are we already doing thecanvassing and, you know, how many,
how many houses?
So canvassing is unique nowbecause when I canvassed for BERNIE

(09:16):
Back in 2016, I didn't have alist of the, of the friendly houses
to go to.
I literally was just told towalk a neighborhood and was.
I was given a list of, youknow, Democrats and Republicans.
But I didn't go to old manCratchit's house.
He's the friendliest old man I had.

(09:37):
I had enough conversationswith people that were like, well,
I like that Bernie Sanders,but, you know, he's no Donald Trump.
And I was like, well, yeah,it's the difference.
Obviously, that's the one youwant to.
Yeah, I know.
One has cohesive thoughts andone doesn't.
Canvassing this year was a.
With.
With Matt was, Was good.

(09:59):
We, We.
We hit a lot of houses and wewere getting in about, you know,
15, 20,000 steps every.
Every time we'd go out.
Wow.
But it's.
I, it's different now because,you know, the list that you.
That I got to canvas was allfriendly houses.
So I knew that the likelihoodis I was knocking on the door of

(10:22):
someone that I was just havingto convince to come out and vote
in the election.
But I guess for a specialelection, it's different.
It's not just telling them.
It's not just introducingyourself, but it's also making sure
they understand that January21st is the election.
This is a special election.
There's only going to be, Iassume, you and somebody else.

(10:46):
That's it on the ballot.
Right.
There's three total people whohave, including myself.
Okay.
This is, I guess, specialelections are interesting.
There has not been a specialelection announced because for my
district, RJ May has not resigned.
His assumption, I'm guessingthe assumption for him is that he

(11:10):
is likely going to be removed.
Okay.
I'm not sure exactly how thathappens, especially with a Republican
called controlled House and Senate.
Like, I don't understand whyhis assumption is he'd be removed
unless he assumes he's goingto be arrested like that.
That I could see.
So.
Well, anyway, enough about himas a third vice chair of South Carolina

(11:35):
Democratic Party, how has thatexperience Prepared you for now running
for the House?
Well, I treated being thirdvice chair like I was a candidate
still.
I wanted to be visible becausethat was one of the biggest things
that I heard complaints aboutprevious third vice chairs.
People were like, we have athird vice chair.
That's how bad it was.
Wow.

(11:56):
So I really had to recreate itand make it my own.
And I really wanted to be moreengaged with the leadership.
When I say leadership, I'mspecifically talking about Crystal
and Jay Parmley, who's theexecutive director of scdp.
So Jay's fantastic.
Yeah, he is fantastic.
So I made sure that I wasalways in the emails.

(12:17):
The four of us, the other vicechairs, N plus J.
We made an agreement to have,like, bi weekly meetings.
This was at the time when wewere, like, first in the nation and
all these things werehappening, and I got to travel the
state.
Now, this was before I waspregnant, obviously.
I had a lot more energy to goto all these places and time, and

(12:39):
so it was fun.
I got to engage with a lot ofyoung people.
I got to work with the HighSchool Democrats of South Carolina,
which was great.
I worked a little bit with theYoung Democrats of South Carolina
as well.
And I had an opportunity to goto Las Vegas for the Young Democrats
of America conference, whichwas really cool, because then I got
to meet people from all overthe country, and I still keep in

(13:02):
touch with those people.
And, like, I have a way biggernetwork than when I started, and
it's been really nice toconnect with them, especially now
as I'm running.
I had a feeling I would run again.
I'm House Slytherin.
I'm a really big Harry Potterfan, so I'm extremely ambitious.
So I made sure to keepeveryone's phone number for this
moment.

(13:22):
And you better believe Icalled through everybody like, hey,
I'm running.
You said you'd support me if Irun again.
Cut me a check.
$13.05.
The challenge was the time of year.
The special election,unfortunately, is around Christmas
time, and morale is lowbecause of the big disappointment

(13:43):
for Democrats in SouthCarolina and nationally.
Whatever are you talking about?
Oh, there was this littlething that happened November 6th.
Yeah.
Pretty devastating.
I'm going to actually show howeasy it is to make a donation to
your campaign.
I'm not going to put it up onthe screen because I don't want my
credit card, but it's very simple.

(14:06):
You go to Michelle Barrett's,like, I.
Don'T want to show you the amount.
And I don't want Michelle toreact when she sees the amount, she's
like.
How did you do?
Negative.
Now I owe you.
What is this?
But it's simple.
You go to michelle4sc.com andthe link is right there on the page

(14:27):
and it's through at blue.
It's not going very quickly onmy phone.
Putting it in the live on TikTok.
There you go.
So michelle4sc.com when youpull up the site, it's very easy
to make a donation to the campaign.
And I guess because, you know,this isn't your first time running

(14:48):
as a candidate, but this isthe first time.
I'm assuming when you ran asvice chair, did that involve having
to take donations and things?
A little bit.
I didn't have an ActBlue then.
I use mostly my own money.
Some people, when they run forstate positions, they raise a ton
of money.
And I guess when you'rerunning for chair, that takes a lot

(15:08):
of money because just think ofthe gas traveling.
Oh, yeah.
From Greenville to CharlesCharleston to Aiken to the pd.
Like, it's a lot.
I spent a lot of money on gas.
But again, that was a.
Another compromise with myhusband of like, look, this is what
I want to do.
Like, can you give me the gas.
Money so I can go please your babies?

(15:30):
Right.
You're gonna.
You're gonna drive a Chevy Volt.
That's the first thing.
So I did have to make somematerials, especially on election
day.
And that's the big conventionwe had in Columbia.
I had some stickers and somepostcards, but mainly it was social
media was the biggest tool.
And then just going to all theDemocratic county meetings and participating

(15:53):
in all the forums and just,you know, bringing my A game.
And I'm very charismatic.
So it wasn't like it was that hard.
And I have great ideas.
I have great ideas, too.
Wait till they find out youplay D and D.
That's.
That's going to be the big kicker.
D and D is big in Charleston.

(16:14):
Yeah, that should, that shouldbe how a lot of stuff is run.
So it's like a roll for initiative.
Lindsey Graham.
Oh, yeah, you're.
Yeah.
If, if, if South Carolina.
If South Carolina'slegislature were to adopt the.
The format of Dungeons andDragons where everyone had to roll
for initiative.
Oh, I would be absolutely infor that.

(16:37):
Filibustering would get weird.
Yeah.
We could televise it.
We could sell pay per viewtickets, raise tax money through
it.
They're not going to give us.
If.
They're not going to give us marijuana.
If You're a Republican, youdon't have inspiration.
You'Re automatically droppedas inspiration.
That's great.
So what are some of the special.

(16:58):
With the special election, ofcourse, it can present these unique
challenges.
How has the campaign, whathave you experienced so far as challenges?
Well, this is my second timetechnically running in a primary
specifically.
So if you want to countrunning for office for SCDP vice
chair, I had run against twoother people.
And the challenge is, youknow, people know people, people

(17:21):
talk, people pick sides.
And so I've, as you canassume, I've made a lot of friendships,
especially in Charleston,where I live, North Charleston, as
well, with people in theDemocratic Party.
And one of the biggestchallenges for me is just, you know,
some people that you think aregoing to be supporters are not just
because they've known someoneelse longer or for what other reasons

(17:44):
they have.
It can be kind of gut wrenching.
It can, it can hurt a little bit.
But it's only made me stronger.
And I'm just like, okay.
Like, that's okay.
Like so and so is supporting them.
But guess what?
I have all these people over here.
And with my experience withPlanned Parenthood, I was a community
organizer with them.
All of those volunteers, thoseamazing, phenomenal volunteers, like

(18:06):
all those people are nowhelping me.
So, like, I have built apretty good infrastructure, which
has definitely helped me havea much stronger ground game, especially
when you don't have to pay for it.
That's why volunteers arealways like, the best.
Yeah.
Because it takes a lot ofmoney to run a good campaign.
I know that people don't liketalking about money, but that's just.
It is what it is.

(18:27):
Like, you have to be able toget money to get your message out
there, either through mailers,social media, ads, paying canvassers,
because I literally could notknock on all 20,000 doors in my district.
But that's what it takes.
And so every little bit counts.
Every volunteer, every dollarraised, it all adds up in the end.

(18:48):
And I'm really fortunate tohave a really great team help me
get me to a win.
So the special election inJanuary, is that the primary?
Okay, so no Republicans havefiled to run in House District 113.
So whoever wins the primarywins the seat.
Essentially, we'll still havea general election on March 21st,

(19:11):
25th, but essentially whoeverwins the primary wins the seat.
So this is extremelycompetitive and it's very common
in blue, safe blue districtsto have super competitive primaries
than the generals.
Like, no one's really paying attention.
So, yeah, it's been tough.
I have really steepcompetition, but I'm a fierce competitor.

(19:33):
I'm an emerge alum.
I know what I'm doing.
This is my second time runningfor the state House.
Nothing really surprises me anymore.
So I'm just, like, rolling.
Rolling with everything.
And it's been great gettingout there and talking to the people
of North Charleston.
The weather's been all rightfor the.
For the.
Getting out there too, for themost part.
There were.
Last weekend was extremelychilly, but I made the most of it.

(19:56):
And I had great connections.
And what I've been finding asI'm knocking on doors.
No one, and I'm knocking onhardcore Democrats, people that they
show up in special elections.
Yeah.
Because we just had one forSenator Deion Tedder for Senate District
42, which overlaps with mystate House district.
And even those folks werelike, there's a special election.

(20:17):
And I'm like, yes, there is.
Vote for me, please.
They're like, okay, well,you're the first one at my door.
And I'm like, yes.
So it's just making sure theyget out to the polls is the trick.
Yeah.
I.
I have some interesting newsdeveloping right now.
Our live contains themes thatsome may find uncomfortable and has

(20:37):
been restricted reasonregulated goods content.
What?
I don't know.
Put my website in the chat.
Did I break it?
I just put my website in the chat.
That's all.
I don't.
I don't think you broke it.
I don't think so.
I mean.
So here's the thing.
It's still running on myscreen, so.
It'S running on mine too.

(20:57):
Yeah, it may be a weird.
Eligible for a recommendationand restricted in search results.
Okay, so it's still running.
It'll just come up on peoplethat are following us.
So.
Yes.
You two are the two viewersright now.
Yeah, we had 16 at one time,and then that happened and done.

(21:20):
My mom sent us a rose.
Hey, that's nice.
That's nice.
I don't know what it does, butthanks, mom.
Give her a shout out.
So most importantly, as far asbeing the representative for Charleston
District 113, what are theissues that you're finding are the
most important to the votersin your district?

(21:43):
Lack of childcare is huge.
Affordable and accessiblechildcare is a big problem.
I am a member of theCharleston Metro Chamber of Commerce,
and they are finally taking onchildcare as part of their campaign.
They're calling it dependentcare, which I think is even better
because there are people whotake care of elderly loved ones.
Yeah.
Who, who need help.
I mean, elderly care is alsovery expensive.

(22:06):
And then all other forms ofcare in between for people that might
have unique disabilities as well.
So I think keeping that, thatjargon together when it comes to
like, dependent care, flexiblespending accounts and stuff, keeping
that all kind of together, Ithink that's a good idea.
Just keep it two dependentsbecause everyone about to have twins.

(22:26):
I don't know what the hell I'msupposed to do.
So.
Congratulations.
Oh, yeah.
Childcare is going to be a bitch.
Can I cuss?
Oh, my God.
Representatives cuss.
Okay, here's.
You've been on the floor ofthe house.
Like, I've, I've been, I'vebeen in there.
I've been in there when.

(22:47):
And this was years and yearsago, but like five years ago.
But like, I've been on thehouse floor where I think I heard.
I think I heard the F wordamong some of the most elderly individuals
representing some of the mosthighfalutin areas of Columbia, South
Carolina.
So, yeah, if you can cuss onthe floor of the South Carolina house,

(23:09):
you can cuss on our podcast.
Okay.
Also, some of those people arereally dirty.
Just the implications of whatthey said.
Yeah.
I would say another issue isdefinitely storm water drainage.
We're still the low country inNorth Charleston, so there's still
some flooding issues there.
Maintaining our roads.
We're having low country rapidtransit come through by like 2028.

(23:33):
And so with that is going tobring a lot of change and just making
sure that we develop reallysmart and strategically around that
and then affordable housing.
That's it's my main thing,affordable housing.
I'm so glad it took thenational stage in this past election.
Yeah.
And affordable housing isstill a major issue.
I'm sure it is all over SouthCarolina, but definitely in the Tri

(23:54):
county area here inCharleston, Berkeley and Dorchester
counties.
And I want to fight for arenter's tax credit.
Like 59% of the people thatlive in District 113 are renters,
my family included.
And when you're paying downstudent loan debt and you're trying
to find affordable childcareand housing is over 30% of your expenses,

(24:18):
it can be a lot.
And so many people livingpaycheck to paycheck, things are
really tight and the rent isjust too damn high.
So I want to fight to dosomething about it and continue on
some of the work.
Work that RepresentativeMarvin Pendarvis was doing as well.
And then gun violence is stilla big problem in the low country

(24:39):
and I know, like, I get it.
We have a super majority ofRepublicans in the House, but I've
been doing research on whatsome of the Republicans even want
to do about it, and I thinktrying to find some common ground.
So something I want to lookinto doing and passing is safe storage
gun laws.
Okay.
Just to help prevent kids fromgetting access.

(25:00):
And when I talked to NorthCharleston police, they were telling
me that most people get accessto firearms because people leave
them in their unlocked cars orthey leave the weapons in their cars.
And it's like, really?
Come on.
So making sure that we havethat in place.
And then because gun violenceis such a.
It's just a massive issue.
There's so many things.

(25:22):
Something I've been lookinginto is how it impacts our kids.
And unfortunately, gunviolence is the number one killer
of children in America.
So when I talked to a fewnonprofit organizations that really
work focusing on kids andespecially surrounding gun control,
gun reform, I was told, and Ilearned that most young kids are

(25:43):
recruited into gangs inelementary and middle school.
That's how they get them hooked.
So I want to invest statemoney into after school programming
to keep these kids occupiedand off the streets.
And it should be free because,like I said, most parents are working
more than one job.
A lot of these kids arelatchkey kids.
So I think having themoccupied will reduce the amount of

(26:06):
juvenile crime that'shappening after school hours.
So that's what I want to do.
That's just a gist.
But if your viewers want toknow more, please check out my website@michelleforsc.com
to learn more about me andwhat I want to do.
But those are just.
That's just the start.
There's.
There's a lot more.
Have any of the interactionsthat you've had with some of the

(26:27):
people that you've met in thedistrict, have those come across
as some of their concerns as well?
Yes.
When I talk to people thatobviously work and with nonprofits,
they care about kids, kids and education.
Not supporting the schoolvouchers, not supporting the privatization
of schools.
So we talk a lot about kids.

(26:48):
And then when I talk toworking families, when I knock on
the door and it's a familythat has little ones just like mine,
they're like, yeah, childcareis way expensive and they want.
And they need the help.
And then it's like a second mortgage.
Pretty much.
Yeah.
And then I can.
I can absolutely tell you when.
So Zach's having twins.

(27:10):
I had.
My wife had twins.
They're.
They were.
They turned 10 back in October.
Wow.
And watch out.
There's something in the water.
Every year.
We're all having twins.
Y'all are having twins.
I'm done having kids.
So you say that, but you're,you're, you're young.
You're young.
You know what?
Twins.
We bless you with twins.

(27:30):
No, but, but when, when, whenwe had our twins, the.
Ultimately it was.
It was a question of if.
If my wife went back to workafter having the kids, what was,
what was most cost effective?
How much.
How much was her income or myincome going to have to go towards

(27:51):
paying for childcare?
You know, sticking them in adaycare where they're, you know,
it's good for their immune system.
That's what I always hear.
But they're constantly cominghome sick.
Bad for your vacation days.
Yeah, but.
So we made the decision thatwhile it was going to hurt us a little
bit financially, she basicallywould have been working for about

(28:13):
$1.50 an hour after paying for childcare.
So it just didn't make sense.
You know, you don't even.
There are very few placesaround here that'll give you a discount
just because you're bringingin two kids.
They.
Look at that.
They're like, two kids now.
It's 100%.
You're gonna, you're gonna pay 100%.
One for 100% for each.
And we do.

(28:33):
The state, South Carolina doeshave a scholarship program for childcare,
but those programs, gratefulfor them, but they really only help
the people, like, livingaround the poverty line.
And this issue is such a giant issue.
We need to expand that becausethere's a lot of people in the middle.
Like I consider myself, youknow, middle income family.
We are struggling.

(28:54):
We are struggling right now.
And that's a story that somany people have.
I mean, I started thinkingabout myself when you were talking
about the decisions that youand your family make.
That was a decision that myhusband and I made after we had our
first child.
We're like.
My husband was like, michelle,your paycheck is going to go to childcare.
You might as well just stay home.
And that was hard because Iwanted to keep, you know, earning

(29:17):
income outside of the home,but it just wasn't cost effective.
Yeah, I know there's reasonswhy everyone does everything, and
there's no judgment on whatfamilies have to choose to do, but
it's.
It's tough.
And so it's an economicproblem in South Carolina.
It's not a women's problem.
It's an everybody problem.
And if we can get Moreaffordable childcare that will help

(29:38):
boost our economy and createmore sorry economic opportunity,
but especially for women,because, you know, the patriarchy.
Of course.
You're on a show with two men.
Yes, two white men as well.
I'm not white.

(29:59):
Zach.
Zach doesn't.
Zach doesn't identify as white.
And frankly, I'm embarrassedby a lot of the things the whites
have done over the lastthousand years.
So I may not identify as that either.
I guess one of the mostdifficult things about running an
election is in meeting withsome of your constituents, and you

(30:21):
already mentioned it as far ashaving the potential that you're
going to campaign to someonewho already knows one of the other
individuals that's running inthat situation, because these are
people you probably know.
I assume you've hadinteractions with them.

(30:44):
How do you navigate that sortof relationship with this person
that you've just met versuswhat, their impression of their friend
or who they've alreadyinteracted with?
Well, I always love to talkabout myself and my accomplishments,
and then I try todifferentiate myself from the others

(31:05):
without naming them.
Sure.
You're not going to catch mesaying nobody else's name on this
podcast today.
Google is free, so.
That's right.
Enjoy.
But I try to point out the differences.
I mean, I am a very strong Democrat.
People have seen me out here working.
I am extremely visible.
And when I talk toconstituents, that's what they want.

(31:26):
They want a state rep who'sgoing to be accessible, who's going
to not, you know, be too busyto address the needs of the community,
and someone who's going to bepresent and not just come around
every two years, but someonewho's going to be consistently involved.
And I have maintained thatever since I ran for office the first

(31:46):
time.
Like, even though I lost, Istill showed up.
And then I got involved in theparty even more, became a third vice
chair, and I'm still out hereadvocating for the issues I believe
in.
When I decided that I wasready to enter the workforce, I wanted
to work for an organizationthat I felt aligned with my beliefs.
And that's why I did work forPlanned Parenthood South Atlantic.

(32:08):
And I just feel like my recordwill speak for itself.
I mean, I can't changeanyone's mind.
That's like, you know, hard, steadfast.
But there are a lot of peopleI think that I have been able to
reach through, if anything.
I had a conversation with avery prominent person in the district,

(32:29):
and he told me he was leaningtowards someone else.
And then once I told him whatI was about.
He was like, wow, I didn'trealize there were at least two great
candidates in this.
I'm like, yes, yes, sir.
Yes.
Remember Michelle Brandt?
This is not going to be easyfor you.
Put my name on your mouth.
I'm here.
Yes, yes.
So, I mean, so it can be alittle tricky navigating that space,

(32:52):
but I just be my.
I just try to be my authenticself, be real and tell people my
story.
And I feel like my story isthe one that a lot of people can
resonate with.
With.
But I do have a lot of likethe training, if you will, to be
in leadership.
I have a lot of theconnections already in the State
House from my work withPlanned Parenthood, from my work
as a third vice chair.

(33:13):
I know a lot of people upthere already, Republicans and Democrats
alike.
I know them and I'm willing todo what it takes to get done.
Yeah, good people are good people.
You could put a tag on them ifthey're good and they could still
be Republican.
Doesn't matter.
Yeah.
I wanted to ask you this real quick.
What is Michelle Brandt thatdoesn't run for politics?
What, what is she, what would she.

(33:33):
Be doing like before 2020.
No, now.
Like, like pre, pre pandemic.
Pre pandemic.
Michelle Brandt.
Yeah, that's pre pandemic.
What would you.
No, like right now if, like,if you're like politics, let's say,
in some multiverse, you're notdoing anything political.
You're.
What, what, what's the other thing?
Is it still working for tryingto help people, that kind of thing.

(33:59):
What, what would it be?
Well, I've always had a benttowards public service.
Like you mentioned PlannedParenthood, that kind of thing.
Would it still be that?
Right?
I don't think it would.
I think it would just be me.
Just I.
Probably working for a non profit.
I know Planned Parenthood, butprobably something more along the

(34:22):
direct service line.
How I got started intopolitics was out of food distribution.
So I would imagine I'd becontinuing to do something along
those lines.
That's like my origin story, I think.
I think you guys were therewhen I talked about that.
I think you did, yeah.
Can I share it on?
Yeah, please.
Okay.
No.
So.
Just kidding.

(34:44):
Yes, please do.
So in 2020, I was Mrs.
Charleston America.
I do pageantry as a hobby.
And I will continue no matterthe result of this election.
And I wanted to do somethingto help people.
I didn't know what to do.
And I saw that Charleston Hopewas having a food distribution in
Downtown Charleston.
So I volunteered, and I met alot of people that day.

(35:07):
It was so hot.
And there was this one man ona bicycle who wouldn't take some
of the food because he didn'thave a refrigerator.
And, like, that was like,obviously, I know that houseless
people live without basicneeds, but just something in that
moment, I was just like, what?
Like, refrigerator.
Like, but you need this.

(35:27):
Like, how are.
I had so many questions, andby the time I, like, turned around
to give him something else, hehad left.
And so I knew then that I waslike, okay, I want to do something
more.
I don't know where to start,but I started, like, hyper local.
I joined the Charleston areaJustice Ministry, and I started going
to county council meetings forthe first time in my life.

(35:49):
Even though I consideredmyself, you know, somewhat of informed
voter, I didn't reallyunderstand the ins and outs of local
politics.
And then when I saw who therepresentatives were, I was like,
I know more than some of thesepeople sitting up there.
And I was, like, frustrated bythe lack of women up there as well.
It was majority men.
And so I had conversationswith some of the council members,

(36:10):
and I was like, how.
How do I be?
Like, you, like, teach me,like, what do I do?
Like, I.
I don't know much about policy.
And they were extremelypatient with me.
I ended up having a three hourconversation with Jenny Honeycutt.
She's a Republican, but, youknow, she.
She took her time out of herday to just kind of explain how everything
worked and politics and whatwas going on.

(36:32):
And she encouraged me to applyto be a commissioner, and that was,
like, my official first, like,appointed position.
And I became commissioner ofCharleston County Parks.
And that's where I learnedabout networking and, like, how to
be, like, elected, even thoughthat was an elected position, because
I almost.
You were a step above Leslie Knope.

(36:53):
Yeah, pretty much.
I love looking at watchingthat show.
Parks and Rec got a lot ofinspiration from watching that show.
I was like, okay, if Lesliecan do it, I can do it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Leslie.
Was there a Ron Swanson in the office?
The guy that worked for.
The guy that worked for statecounty government but believed that

(37:15):
it shouldn't exist?
Yeah.
Any dog under £50 as a cat.
There were some grumpycharacters, I would say, but everyone
gets along for the most part,and they're really nice.
Yeah.
When.
So I guess, you know, youmentioned the discussion with the
family on deciding to run andwant to mention again real quick.
The website is michelle4sc.comyou can pull that up.

(37:40):
You can make donations to thecampaign as well.
You can follow Michelle andthe campaign on all the social media
links are there on the website.
So do that as well.
So, michelle4sc.com I'm notmissing another seven questions.
We have to jump into it.
Okay, okay.
Yeah, you're right.
You're right.
Okay, so Michelle, real quick,say, tell us.

(38:02):
We're going to throw sevenquestions at you.
Okay.
So real quick.
Okay.
Hard sell you.
Why do you need to be therepresentative for South Carolina's
House Seat 113?
I need to be therepresentative because I have been
showing up and I'm going tocontinue to show up.
I am a strong Democrat.

(38:22):
And also what makes me uniqueis that I support other Democrats.
I've helped so many others runtheir campaigns.
I will do what I can to getother Democrats elected, especially
in the more redder parts ofour state.
I think that this is a safeblue seat.
I am going to have incumbencywhen I win, but I'm not just going

(38:43):
to be, you know, a fat, happy cat.
I'm going to be out theredoing the work to help others because
I won't be able to getanything done without the support
of a Democratic delegation.
And so I will be working with sedp.
You know, as new leadershipcomes and goes, I'll be working with
those leaders to get things done.
But I really have a heart forthe needs of the community.

(39:04):
I really want to seeaffordable housing become at the
forefront, along withchildcare and paid maternity leave.
And I want to address the lackof OB GYNs we have in South Carolina.
Like, there's so much workthat needs to be done and I have
the energy and the time to do it.
And that's why people shouldvote for me.
Excellent.
Michelle4sc.com all right,Michelle, we are going to get into

(39:27):
your seven questions.
Okay, so these are basicallyquestions that we get to ask our
guests, that every guest getsto hear them.
And for some reason, none ofthem seem to know anything about
it.
It's like we surprise them.
All right, first question.
What was the last thing thatyou googled?

(39:49):
Bonus points.
It was the All About Nothing podcast.
No, I'm just kidding.
I googled.
What does right to work state mean?
They can fire you at any timefor any reason.
It's great.
It's a weird play on words.
They seem to have come up withthis, right?
I was like, that soundsinteresting, but it's not.
So I wanted to make sure Iunderstood what it meant.

(40:10):
Yeah.
What it really Means is rightto fire is essentially what that
means.
We can let you go for no reason.
Yeah.
All right, question.
If you could have onesuperpower, what would it be?
Teleportation.
Because I'm always like, God,you're like.
The fifth person in a row.
Yeah, like, everybody wants teleportation.

(40:32):
What was yours again, Zach?
Mine was flight.
I just want to fly, bro.
Just flight.
Did you get shot down?
I'm not going to.
I'm not seeing.
Aliens will scoop you up.
Not looking for violence.
I just want to fly.
So.
So when you say teleportation,are you talking, like, Nightcrawler
teleportation?
Like just a short transmission?

(40:53):
No, like Harry Potter, like,Apparate kind of situation.
Okay.
Turns a little miss that canjust touch.
Touch an object and go.
And then be there.
Had to carry an old shoe.
Yeah.
All right, question number three.
If your life would.
If your life were a movie,what would the title be?

(41:18):
What is she going to do next?
Okay, that's good.
That's good.
I see sequels in the future.
What's she going to do now?
And then.
All right, question number four.
If you could eat one food forthe rest of your life, what would
it be?

(41:38):
Oh, my God.
Basil fried rice with chickenin it.
Okay, that sounds fried riceand chicken.
I assume that is not going tomess up my stomach.
Look, I just recently foundout, and this is probably more information
than anybody needs, but I mayhave a little bit of the.

(42:01):
What is the ibs.
Ibs.
Yeah, yeah.
Actually, take it back.
Tacos.
You can change that up.
See, that's gonna.
That is definitely gonna messme up.
That's a winning answer ifthere ever was one.
So it's all.
It's all white rice andnoodles from egg noodles from here
on out.
All right, question number five.
What is your least favoritecandy, and why candy corn?

(42:24):
Because it tastes like trash.
That's a.
That's a bold claim whenTootsie Rolls.
Exist, but I rather takeTootsie Rolls over candy corn.
And it looks hard.
Chocolate.
Just.
All right, all right, all right.
Candy corn.
Candy corn is disgusting.
All right, so this is gonna.
This is gonna give someinsight into some of your character.

(42:45):
Number six is what is onestrange or unusual talent that you
have that most people don't know?
I can show you.
Oh, here we go.
Show and tell.
Let's go.
Let's.
Let's see.
I can, like, fold my tongue.
All right, let's go.
Stop laughing.
Okay, I can do it.

(43:06):
Hold on.
Give me a second.
The clover thing Yeah, I can'tdo it.
I can't do it.
I'm just happy I have thechromosome to be able to go.
Yeah, we're good.
Look, I'm glad my tongue stillextends outside of my mouth.
I can do the shamu.

(43:29):
I don't.
I.
I don't want to scare y'all,but when you get to be my age, things
stop working.
And how old are you?
72.
Zach always here.
I can do the job of the.
Huh?

(43:50):
No, I will.
I will be 46 in March, so.
You'Re not that old.
Okay.
All right, here's the last ofthe seven questions.
If you could have dinner withany three people, dead or alive,
who would they be?
Harriet Tubman.
Good.
Barack Obama.
Okay, wait, I only want one Obama.

(44:11):
You're Michelle, but not the one.
I know it's hard becausethey're both great.
Could I do the couple?
Couple?
The couple.
We'll let you have a couple.
We'll let you have.
Oh, Zach's.
Zach's.
Zach's pulling back.
I.
I had to keep it to three.
Okay.
I'm trying to think of thethird person.
Shirley Chisholm.
Barack Obama and Harriet Tubman.

(44:33):
Those are.
Those are good.
Those are.
Okay.
So would you be eating tacos?
Yes.
Sub.
Sub section question on that one.
Oh, you already said it.
Would you be eating tacos?
So it's tacos.
All right.
Tacos and rice.
Well, Michelle, we know thatyou have to run, but I want to thank
you very much for being on thepodcast with us.

(44:54):
And hopefully, come January22nd, or, I believe, 22nd, we'll
know that you have beenelected to be the House seat.
And then when you come up toColumbia for your session, then.
Then we'll make.
I'll make sure that I comedown there.
We'll get lunch or something.
So I'll take you out of lunchbecause I know how little you all

(45:16):
make, so.
Yeah, we don't make anything.
I'm gonna need to find a jobafter I get elected.
That's exactly.
And hopefully you'll rememberus as the okayest white guys.
After my husband, of course.
Yes.
Well, you.
You make sure to tell yourhusband exactly what I said.
Well, Michelle, thank you verymuch for being on the show with Zach.

(45:38):
Thank you for being here.
Links to past episodes,podcast platforms, merchandise, and
social media available.
Our webpage,theallaboutnothin.com if you think
our financial model of givingaway free content, entertainment
is silly and you're in thegiving mood, why not become an official
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Or you can have a give us aone time donation through the same
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If you'd like to be a part ofthe show, you can call and leave

(45:59):
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You can email the show attheallaboutnothing.com or you can
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Linksavailable@theallaboutnothing.com thank
you everyone for listening.
You all stay safe, be kind and.
Keep your hands to yourself.
The All About Nothing podcastis produced and engineered by me,
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Thanks to Cake for our intro music.

(46:20):
Sick of you.
You can follow Everything Cakethe band@cake music.com thanks to
Muff the Producer for ourOutro Music.
You can follow Muff onInstagram Instagram Muff the Producer
I am Barrick Gruber.
You can follow me on Instagramand Twitter ericgruber or visit my
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Want to support the show?
Visit our webpagetheallaboutnothing.com and become
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(46:40):
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(47:02):
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Visit whatthepodwas that.comfor links and details.
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Visit wtwlpod.com for details.
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(47:23):
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