Graham Platner

back into the party that represents the interests of those who work and, frankly, those who are often exploited.

And you can't represent the interests of those who are exploited and represent the interests of those who are exploiting them at the same time.

But for quite some time now, there's an element of the party that has tried to do that.

I think if you ask working people in this country, which they would say no, which is reflected in the polling at the moment and has been for quite some time.

That's right.

Oh, because I am one.

I mean, I've been a registered Democrat my entire life, and I firmly believe that the Democratic Party should be the party of labor unions, should be the party of community organizations, should be the party of civil rights organizations, should be the party that advocates continuously

for systemic and structural change that is going to make this society uplift all of us, instead of creating structures that allow for the consolidation of wealth and power and keep that wealth and power in the hands of very few.

There are many people who talk about the Democratic Party as it once was, a party that used to represent labor unions, used to represent working people, and that one of the reasons why

it has lost that support is because it ceased being that.

And I believe it still can be.

Well, it is very funny to me that we've created this idea that you can only represent like the average American if you're rich.

Or if you've spent a bunch of time around wealth and power, which is funny because the average American has not spent a bunch of time around wealth and power.

The average American is not rich, does not come from some kind of specialized background that we have elevated.

I actually think there is a story that's really coalesced in the last 50 years, which is this kind of there's a gatekeeping about power.

It's this idea that power is only for people who have a specific last name or who come from wealth or who are already connected to it, people who have a specific kind of business background or have some kind of educational background.

They're the ones who are competent.

They're the ones who are worthy of wielding power.

And that's not true.

It's simply not true.