Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Left Out Loud is a progressive political podcast breaking down the biggest stories shaping our democracy. From up-to-the-minute political news and midterm election coverage to in-depth interviews with grassroots Democratic candidates, the show spotlights the voices and movements fighting for real change. Smart, informed, and unapologetically loud, Left Out Loud pairs sharp analysis with humor and plain-spoken commentary, cutting through the noise to focus on what actually matters. If you care about elections, organizing, and the future of the Democratic Party—and you like your politics with a little personality—this is the podcast for you.
All right.
Hey, Seth
Hey, Ali
We have a Senate, uh, candidate today,
a candidate- Okay … for senator.
I think this marks our
first one on the show.
Mm-hmm, for sure.
Very exciting.
Um, her name is Alani Bankhead.
She is running in Montana,
and she is a shero.
She is like a mixture of
GI Jane and James Bond.
Yeah.
Such a badass.
I- I hear it … you know, we almost,
um, we had to reschedule our previous
recording session, and that's the first
time I was, like, super bummed, because
I really can't wait to talk to her.
So let's bring her in.
Hello, Alani.
Hey, you guys.
Oh my gosh, that was
so nice of you to say.
I'm so excited to be here with you all-
and I can't wait to get
into the conversation.
Yeah, and we're so excited to have you.
Welcome to Left Out Loud.
Yeah.
Um, as I told Seth or as I was telling
Seth, you have an insane background.
Um, I'm gonna read it because
I wanna get it just right.
So you're a third-generation military
veteran, having served in the Air
Force for over 21 years, hunting
terrorists with special operations,
chasing spies internationally, and
serving as a senior bodyguard to
one of the top Pentagon leaders.
In addition to that, if that's not enough
for you, also Alani has dedicated her
career to combating online exploitation
and supporting investigations that put
children, families, and communities first.
Wow.
Wow.
The things you've probably seen,
like the corruption and the
evils, I can't even imagine.
I don't think I would want to
know about all of them, because
some people, like you, Alani,
are built for that type of work.
Others, like me, I would
probably never sleep again.
So my first question, I'm gonna
jump right in with a tough question.
Okay.
Okay.
So this administration, and specifically
this president, has shown to have pretty
strong connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
No.
Um, no, right?
I know.
And so we've seen Congress, um,
pass the Epstein Transparency Act,
and I think they kind of had to.
I mean- Of course … that was, that
was like, the public pressure was there.
There was no way they
could vote no on that.
Um, and also members of Congress
have met with Epstein's victims,
and that's kinda where it stops,
because we've seen investigations
and we've seen accountability, um,
outside of the United States of
America, but we haven't seen it here.
So with your background in
mind- Two-part question.
Number one, what would you like to
see Congress doing in this moment
now that they have not done, and how?
And what would you do if
you were a sitting member of
Congress in this situation?
Oh, spicy right out the gate.
I love this.
Yeah, no.
This is a great question.
And I mean, the, it's not just a
question of like what would the plan be.
I think it's a question of we
are wrestling with the soul of
our country with this question.
Um, so my background in terms of working
child exploitation, and I've worked
these cases on six continents- Mm … so
I have a good understanding of like the
themes, and you see the same things.
It doesn't matter what community,
what ethnicity, what religion, like
it's the same kind of all around.
And unfortunately- You know,
power, power obviously corrupts.
And when you're looking at
globally… L- actually, let's
start with the United States.
So it's one in four girls, one in six to
10 boys, depending on the study that you
look at, are survivors of this crime.
So that's between 68 and 75
million Americans- Mm … that
are survivors of that abuse.
And when you talk about, like,
you know, the other studies.
So there was, uh, Dr. B- Bork.
He was the head of, um, behavioral
psychology for the US Marshal Service.
He did the most comprehensive
work on, um, predators.
And, you know, of course they
start with the Everybody Seen
To C- To Catch a Predator.
They'll be like- Yeah … "No, no,
no, it's my first time. I didn't…
You know, it was an accident." Right.
Whatever.
Then they put him on a polygraph, and it
was like 85% failed the polygraph, and
on average they each had eight victims.
Hm.
So, so when you talk about, you know,
o- I think the statistic right now is
about 10%, and it's a guess, right?
10% of men are perpetrating this.
That's still 10% of men in government.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and so unfortunately, when you're
in those positions of power and you've
engaged in any kind of, like, sexually
inappropriate type of thing, A, you're
either gonna, you know, protect yourself,
you're gonna protect your buddy.
Or if you're, let's say you're a good
person, and you did some stuff back in
the day that, you know, you feel shame
about or whatever, there's that element
of, "Well, who am I to say something
because I would be a total hypocrite?"
Like, right?
Right.
So it's, it, it's really
kind of complicated.
But at the end of the day, the
simple answer is there's no appetite
because America and its legislators
do not actually value children.
They don't actually value
vulnerable populations.
Um, when it comes to
trafficking, right, it's awful.
There's more modern slaves today in the
world than there were back when America
had slaves, and, um, that's because, you
know, if, if you wanna talk about drug
trafficking, for example, you have to
manufacture a drug, and then you have
to sell it, and then it's consumed.
Now you gotta make another drug, right?
Humans are a renewable resource.
Mm. You just have to feed it and give
it water and make sure it's still alive.
So that's why it's become so popular,
and it's exploded in popularity.
Um, and then on the flip side,
you've got the mental health
crisis in the country, right?
Mm-hmm.
Um, I'm a root cause person.
Uh, when I see, like, addictive,
inappropriate behaviors like
that, I'm like, what's the trauma
that led to that behavior, and
how do we address that, right?
Um, and so there's a
lot of unhealed trauma.
There's a lot of people who, you
know, because of toxic masculinity,
whatever, they don't value-
Healing those things, right?
So there's just all kinds of reasons
for it, but at the end of the day, what
it comes down to is we elected people
that are bought off by the Epstein
class, by the way- Mm-hmm … um, and
they're not gonna hold them to account
because they wanna be re-elected.
And then you have a segment that are also
engaging in those activities who aren't
gonna hold the Epstein class accountable.
And then you have, you know, the other
folks that they are trying their best,
but they're, they just don't understand
the space and aren't able to, like,
coalesce together to- Right … get
that momentum to seek that justice.
Let me ask you a quick follow-up.
Look, I, I don't, um, I don't know what
the legality of this is, but could the
members of Congress that have met with
the Epstein victims have a list of
names that those victims have provided?
Could they publicly Call on the
DOJ to investigate the people that
the victims have provided to them.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
So Congress's job, right, like the
checks and balance system is brilliant,
right?
Mm-hmm.
Um, and Congress was intended to check
the, uh, executive branch, and we all
know that that's not happening, right?
Like, he's doing whatever he wants
and there's no accountability.
Now, this is not about purely, like, you
did a bad thing and I'm gonna punish you.
It's about having proper
governance at the end of the day.
Right.
So in terms of Congress, I
looked this up a while ago, I
don't remember the exact year.
The last-- So Congress actually
has arrest authority, and they,
they have not arrested someone
since at least 1920, I think.
Um, and I'm a justice seeker.
Like, when a, when a judge tells
you you're subpoenaed, you show
up to court or you go to jail.
Mm-hmm.
Like, there's consequences.
Right.
So all these political games where
people get subpoenaed by Congress
and they're not held accountable when
they don't show up, that perpetuates
this lack of accountability.
So when-- if we were blank slating
Congress right now, you know, I think
the primary responsibility is clawing
back that power that they ceded to
the executive branch and restore what
the founders intended, which is the
executive can't do whatever it wants.
Hmm.
It has to be held accountable.
And so, um, that would include, you know
what, DOJ, you are gonna investigate
this, otherwise there's consequences.
Mm-hmm.
We're gonna pull your funding.
That's by far the, the number
one-- that's actually the only
thing that- Yeah … will actually
get government doing anything.
Um, and, and me working in the space
a long time, I would try to, like,
coordinate and collaborate and do
all those- Mm-hmm … you know?
No.
When you take their money away- Right
all of a sudden everybody's
jumping through hoops.
Um-
I bet.
Yeah.
And so that's one of the things that
I plan on doing, uh, for, like, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, right?
I mean, trafficking and sex abuse
is rampant on the reservations.
Mm-hmm.
Everybody in federal law
enforcement and at the res knows
that BIA is, like, is a problem.
Yeah.
Right?
Um, and so I'm like, "Just wait. Just
wait till we get to Congress," right?
Um, but, uh, so what Congress needs to do
is set the guidelines for the people of
America expect accountability for Epstein.
Mm-hmm.
Accountability looks like investigations.
It looks like putting people in jail.
You will do that.
You will report to Congress.
Um, and if you're, if you don't
do those things, then leaders
will be held accountable.
They get impeached, right?
They get removed from office.
Um, they get fired, you know, for, for,
for not doing what they're supposed to
do, and that's how things start moving,
uh- Yeah … in the right direction.
Love it.
Love it So,
so my first question is a two-parter.
Uh, and so, you know, as somebody
who is in the military, I need
to know two things from you.
One, obviously we know that the
things that this administration
has done to the military, uh, to
disadvantage it through multiple ways.
I would like you to kn- to just let our
audience know just one or two of the
issues that you feel like are the worst
kinds of, um, uh, issues that, that, that
this administration has given y'all, one.
And two, I gotta know what
y'all think of Pete Hegseth.
Because this guy is, is a character of,
uh, from, like from another dimension.
And so I just, I need to know
what you guys think, what,
what veterans think about him.
And like I said, just, you know, what,
what… how do you feel like this
administration has hurt the military the
most?
Oh, man.
Yeah, that's, these are great questions.
So,
I think the best way I could answer
your first part is, you know, I grew
up in the military, so I've been around
these populations for a long time, and
I could feel even as a kid that the
relationship between the military and
the people of America was really special.
Um, you know, post Gulf War it was
parades, and like, I, I remember
yellow ribbons being on everything-
Mm-hmm … right, during the Gulf War.
And, um, on, when I deployed to Iraq,
you know, we have NATO, and so you
have your partners and, you know, you
talk to people from other countries.
And I remember one time, one of
the NATO guys was like, "You're
so lucky, um, y- you guys get
tax-free money when you deploy."
And I was like, "What?" I was like,
"You guys don't?" And they're like,
"No." And I Googled it, and at the
time we were the only country that
gave tax-free pay to our folks.
Right.
And that was the beginning for
me of getting that perspective of
really understanding how much the
American people, at, at least at the
time, loved and appreciated- Yeah
their military.
And when you looked at the polls, it, the
military was the most trusted institution-
Mm … out of all of them at the time.
And so unfortunately now, because
of what happened in Minneapolis,
right, so, um, the administration was
deploying the National Guard, which
Posse Comitatus is, um, an act that was
signed into law after, uh, the Civil War.
So post Civil War, the South basically
was like, "We don't wanna integrate,"
so they used their army to, um, do
bad things to African Americans.
And so the Posse Comitatus Act
said you cannot use your military
for law enforcement functions.
They are national security, so like
protecting the country, not dealing with
crimes with- within the country, right?
And so, um, even with me as a
military agent, I had very s- strict
rules on arresting civilians, when
I could do it, when I couldn't.
Um, and so h- deploying the National
Guard against our own people starts to
erode that trust that- Yeah … we've
had for so, since World War II, right?
And that's the part that breaks
my heart the most, because- Um,
we are really special and, and I'm
so thankful for that relationship
that, that we have with our people.
And I mean, I, as a military and a law
enforcement officer, I can't imagine
walking into any community and having
people not feel safe when I'm there.
Mm-hmm.
Like, that breaks my heart.
That's not the point.
You know what I mean?
So the administration's really done
a lot to destroy that trust, and it's
literally the optics of it, right?
So seeing someone in a uniform, in a
military uniform in Minneapolis, in DC-
Mm
…
guarding against our own people.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
It's crazy.
Um, and so on the flip side, I think your
other question had to do with, um- PETE
access.
Oh yeah, PETE… PD. Um, I retired
in February specifically so I
could say whatever I wanted-
and PD can't put me in jail.
Mm-hmm.
He is, how do I describe this?
I mean, the vast majority of
veterans don't respect him.
Um, f- he's completely unqualified
for the job, first of all.
Yeah.
Um, he got in a lot of trouble, right?
Like the sex assault
allegations, the alcoholism.
Um, I will tell you that, you
know, I, I was a senior Pentagon
bodyguard, so I know- Yeah
lots of bodyguards and- Mm-hmm
… including the Secretary of Defense's team.
Um, you know, he has a whole, like,
makeup, like, setup in his office.
Ugh.
So the Secretary of Defense
has gender affirming care.
So
alpha.
While he's kicking out trans
people- … from the military.
Oh, it's hilarious.
No.
Yes.
Yes.
Ooh.
It's hilarious.
Oh
my God.
So, so it's- You know, he is always, like,
so greased up and, like, has his hair-
Pancakes
…
just perfect.
Yeah.
It is so interesting how these,
you know, big, strong, you know,
alpha males who are, like, always
talking about how big and bad they
are and we need to get everybody,
you know, skinny and, uh- Well, he-
get everybody ripped in the g- in
the, in the military, no fatties.
Yeah.
Stuff like that.
He still thinks, he still thinks he's
a Fox News host, because when you're
going to Fox News every day, they're
putting you in that makeup chair,
they're getting you camera ready.
Mm-hmm.
And he's never transitioned
from that mindset.
That's all he is.
That's all he will ever be.
Yep, yep, yep.
And even, I mean, a lot of my
military friends are conservative,
like very- Mm-hmm … conservative.
And even they're like, "No." Yeah.
Like, no, no, no.
Mm-hmm.
And even le- let's talk about the war
in Iran, which is illegal, by the way.
Um, and I'm a national security girl.
I believe in strong borders.
Mm-hmm.
I believe in protecting the country.
This is illegal.
And, um, especially post-global
war on terror, you have a whole
generation of veterans that have
PTSD, myself included, right?
Like, you went through all this hell, you
saw the worst of the worst of humanity.
Any veteran that tells you, "I'm,
I want the next generation to
go through that," is like- Yeah
psycho.
Right.
Right?
So everybody I know is just
like, I mean, we're down for a
righteous war because we love this
country, but this is not righteous.
Mm-hmm.
And we don't want our, our
young folks going to this war.
Right.
Um, so conscientious objectors are
up over 1,000% in the military.
Um, and I, and I get it.
It's hard.
Like, I mean, being in the
military is really, really hard.
But then to be part of something that
you're like, "I think we're the bad guys."
Yeah.
You've gotta be
crazy, you know?
Right.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh.
So I've got lots of thoughts
about Pete, but- I'm gonna try
to be professional and keep it
at that.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Um, although I love
that little tidbit, so-
Oh,
yeah … that, that's very,
that's very addicting.
Might have to clip
that.
Mm-hmm, for sure.
For sure.
So you live in Montana.
I've never been.
I've only heard about its majestic beauty.
But you also talk about Montana having
the right stuff to unite the country.
And so being a resident there,
tell us about, you know, what it
is about community members and the
culture of Montana that you feel
could help heal a divided nation.
I love this question.
Okay.
So, um, I've been to over 80
countries, and I've been to almost
every state in this country,
and I do leadership development
nationally and internationally.
Mm-hmm.
So I get a lot of, like, culture-
Yep
…
you know, understanding.
Um, I'm in counter-intelligence,
uh, counter-intelligence and human
intelligence, so literally our job
is to read culture and… Right?
Mm-hmm.
Um, but Montana has this really
unique mixture of values.
So it's community, um, uh, common
sense, hard work, family, freedom.
And I mean, those sound
like, eh, okay, alumni.
Right.
Like, most places have that.
No, no, no.
In Montana, if you… Like, you
know, it snows here eight months
out of the year, but not this
past year because global warming.
Sure.
Um, but normally when, uh, i- if
you, like, get into a snow ditch or
something like that, the first car that
stop, that passes will stop every time
Amazing
people wave.
Like, when you're driving, like- Mm-hmm
… people will wave at you on the side roads.
It's, like, mandatory.
Um, we were 10 minutes into town pulling
luggage out of our car, and our neighbor
comes over and is like, "Hey, welcome.
I brought you guys some beers."
And we're like, "What is
happening?" Like, this is amazing.
Because if you look at the
history of Montana, you know,
when, uh, folks migrated over,
all you had was that community.
So if your- Yeah … fence breaks,
if you get sick, and it's a very
heavy agriculture community, right?
Like, you have to depend on each other,
and you can't let something as stupid
as politics get in the way of that.
Mm-hmm.
So that's already built into the culture.
Um, the other thing is, um, common sense.
Oh my gosh.
I don't, it drives me nuts how pundits
nationally are like, "Montana's red." I'm
like, "Y'all clearly have not been here."
Mm-hmm.
'
Cause Montana's a very purple state.
Mon- in Montana, it's one of two states
where you can, uh, buy weed legally and
open carry a weapon without a permit.
Wow.
Montanans are like, "I want my weed, I
want my guns, and leave me alone." Yeah.
That's how Montanans are.
They're very much live and let live.
And so when I talk to people around
the state and, um, you know, if
you're born and raised here, you don't
know how special that is, but I'm an
investigator, so I bring evidence, right?
Mm-hmm.
I'm like, "Oh, no. Oh, no. Montana's
special." Um, last year Montana made
national headlines because they had
bipartisan opposition to the sale of
public lands via the Big Beautiful Bill.
Mm-hmm.
Um, we also have the Nasty Nine in the
state legislature, so it's these nine
Republican legislators that crossed the
aisle to ensure that there was, like,
rural healthcare in place and, like,
hospitals weren't shutting down and stuff.
We also have the Montana Plan,
which is Mon- the plan to get
dark money out of politics.
Um, Hawaii just passed, uh, their
own law, but I wanna be clear,
Montana originated the idea.
It's just we have to get
signatures, get it on- Yeah … the
November ballot, right?
But I showcase that as, like, that
bipartisan support, you don't find it on
this level anywhere else in the country.
Right.
And, and so when I tell, like, locals
or otherwise that, you know, people are
like, "Oh, wow, you're right," you know?
And I'm like, "No, like,"
and this is what DC needs.
DC needs more common sense like this.
Like- Yeah,
what a great model for the federal
The federal government, right?
Yeah.
Yes, exactly.
And, and so my thing is I'm not, I'm
not particularly good at anything.
What I am good at is creating the
right spaces for the experts to
come in, and then I cut through
government bureaucratic red tape.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and so the goal is to just get
to office so we can bring the experts
with us so they can advise and do
these common sense things that-
Yeah … they're already doing.
Um, and so Montana's a really,
really special place and, um, my,
my hope is through the campaign
that we reflect back to the people
the real power that they have.
Beautiful.
Beautiful, Alani.
And that's a great, you know, thank
you for sharing with both of us and
the audience about your experiences
in Montana, because talk to people
from all over the country, and, um, I
always feel like I can kind of envision
these states a little bit better
after talking to candidates, and that
was really a beautiful description.
Yeah, 'cause otherwise you get like
this, you know, like a stereotypical-
Mm-hmm
…
description.
But when you really go to places, you
realize that all the stereotypes that
you've been told about are wrong.
Yeah.
And Montana's a very, you
know, spread out state.
There's, it's one of the fewest, uh,
for, in terms of people per square mile.
And so these are, these are different
folks, and they, and they, and
you know, everybody has like their
kind of different culture, right?
So it's a beautiful thing I think.
Um, yeah, and on your website, and part
of your campaign is, you know, you're
big on helping farmers and ranchers.
Obviously agriculture is massive in
Montana, and this, and again, this
administration has done, uh, very little
to help the agriculture industry at large.
I wonder, uh, in Montana, what kind of
damage are you seeing, uh, for farmers
and ranchers, and how do you plan to help?
Oh, bruh, it's so bad.
Like, it's not even that they're
not helping, they're like
actively working against the
farmers- Nice … and ranchers.
Um, so first we had the 800
million in Argentinian beef
that the administration- Oh
let in, right?
Yeah.
Direct competition with our folks.
Yep.
Um, we had the… We sent, our
government sent money down to
South America to support their
agriculture community, right?
Um-
Oh, real quick, Peter Thiel ju- you
know, is just moved to Argentina.
The billionaires are
fleeing to Argentina, y'all.
Yeah, yeah, that helped create this mess.
Mm-hmm.
So, um, so yeah.
Uh, and then on top of that, right,
just like every other industry, um,
like venture capital is trying to
come in and gobble everything up.
Yeah.
And so you have big ag, right?
So like the Perdues and like, you
know, those really big companies, and
they're the ones dictating the prices.
They're the ones, you know,
like just controlling everything
about these small businesses.
And, uh, we do have, I'm, I'm, I hope
I say this right, so Matt Raines is
one of our candidates running for
the first congressional district.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and he's got a background in ag.
And I… He helped create the first co-op
in, in the state, I think it's actually
in the country, um, where it's like
individual small farms that are coming
together to support each other, right?
And- Oh, I love that … um,
oh, it's amazing.
I mean, it took a lot of work to
get it launched- Yeah … you know?
But, um- But when I talk to farmers and
ranchers about that kind of concept,
it would give them a lot of power back.
Um, but unfortunately, one of the big,
other big problems is financing, right?
Because you are one bad
weather year away- Mm-hmm
from not getting paid.
Yeah.
And so, uh, bank- uh,
bankruptcies are through the roof.
Obviously mental health in the agriculture
community is really, really bad.
Um, and w- when we talk about solutions,
like things like almost like an
FDIC insurance for farms, right?
Where it's we say like, "Hey, if you
five farmers wanna get together and each
put a million in to create your co-op,
for the first six years the federal
government will insure your business,
so if you go in the red, we will provide
a no or very low percentage loan or
something like that to help out," right?
Brilliant.
Um, that's the kind of policy change we're
looking at making that is common sense-
Mm-hmm
…
that supports local business.
Because it's over 80% of Mon- um, Montana
businesses are small businesses, so it's
the backbone just like every other state.
And I don't think you need a study to
s- to show that when you infuse the
local economy with money, everybody
thrives at the end of the day, right?
Yeah.
And so, um, now I don't have an ag
background, and I'm very clear about
that, but I don't have to to respect
the people who put food on my table.
Absolutely.
And these are the hardest working
people… I mean, it doesn't matter
if it's negative 80 here, and it
does get negative 80 in Montana.
Oh my God.
Um, oh, yeah.
It's not that bad, actually.
I like it cold, Alani, so you know,
that doesn't sound so bad to me.
Yeah, yeah.
But yeah, so I mean, the administration,
it's heartbreaking what they've done.
What's worse is the Montana congressional
representatives that are supporting the
administration doing this, I'm just like,
"Bro, do you forget where you're from?"
Mm-hmm.
Same thing with public lands.
I'm like, Montanans are
obsessive about public lands.
Like, they are the crown
jewels of this country, and-
Mm
…
like, we have our congressional
representatives are actively
right now voting to open those
up to be exploited and sold.
And I'm like, maybe if you
were from Alabama or like
California, but like Montana?
Like- Right … oh yeah, it's bad.
Wow.
So, um, maybe one more question
before we kind of wind things down
because for the viewers, if you
can see Alani's background, which
is blurred, she is in her car.
Her primary is in four days,
so she is out canvassing and
pushing towards the finish line.
You have, um, four other
Democrats, right- Mm-hmm
that are running on this
ticket, three Republicans.
The incumbent is dropping out
completely due to health reasons.
Um, so how are you feeling right now?
I mean, h- how long have
you been campaigning?
How… What, what is- What has the
reception been to you in Montana so far?
Yeah.
You know, we're feeling so good,
and I'm not saying that just as
like a, "Oh, we feel really good."
Mm-hmm.
Like, we started this campaign in January
because I was on active duty last year,
and so if you're on Title 10 orders,
you can't do anything political at all.
It's illegal.
Um, so literally it was like I came
off orders, and we had to jump right
into the campaign, and, you know,
people had already been campaigning
for, one of them, like over a year.
Wow.
So, um, so I was like, "We're
gonna give it everything we
got," and my team is incredible.
Uh, I mean, having a compelling story is
helpful- Mm-hmm … in terms of getting
people to pay attention a little bit.
Sure.
Sure.
Right?
Gets your foot in the door.
Um, but, uh, I will say, like there's
been a lot of dark money coming into
this race, and it's bananas and why
we need Citizens United to go away.
Mm-hmm.
Um, but we're, I'm feeling so thankful.
Like, we, we've talked about it.
There's nothing we would do differently.
We've gone so hard and, um, you can
see we're neck and neck right now
with, uh, the original front runner,
and we just- Mm-hmm … I mean, we
think we're gonna win, obviously.
Right, right.
But, um, but we just, you know,
we'll find out on Tuesday.
Uh, but I'm just really thankful.
And you know, I think part of the
campaign too is, um, we are a government
of the people, by the people, for the
people, and I, I was on Capitol Hill.
I was in the White House.
Mm-hmm.
I saw how all those people worked.
You would get a brilliant, like
Condoleezza Rice or Colin Powell every
once in a while, but for the most
part, I was looking at these guys,
and I'm like, "You're running what?"
Like, this is- Scary.
Yeah … it's scary.
And, and, um, part of the campaign is,
again, reflecting back to Montana what
their power is, that even though the
billionaires have money, we have people.
Mm-hmm,
yeah.
And we have people that love an underdog
and, um, I've done the impossible before.
I mean, I've, um, I've done all
kinds of crazy miraculous…
Not, not me, but like I've
done crazy shit in my career.
Yeah.
So the, you know, the idea of like
let's run for Senate and win is, I'm
like, "Okay, what kind of crazy thing
are we doing now?" But the intent is to
inspire Montana and America to remember,
like we are a country of underdogs.
We are a country of,
like we will get it done.
We didn't look at the Nazis and
we're like, "What are we gonna do
if they lo- if they win?" Mm-hmm.
Like we're like, "We're gonna win"
and, and, and then we did, right?
Yeah.
And even though we almost lost, like
it was hard, but I think we're trying
to reflect back more of that spirit
to the state through the campaign.
Um, and we just wanna leave it all
out on the field, uh, at the end of
the day, and I think we've done that.
So we're, I'm really thankful.
It's been an incredible journey.
Mm-hmm.
And hopefully we get a little
bit more runway to November
Well, I mean, Seth and I are definitely
gonna be watching that primary on Tuesday.
And you're a friend of the show
now, and after you win the primary,
hopefully you'll come back because
there's maybe a million more things
I wanna talk about- … at least.
Um I just wanna be conscious of time
because you are in that final few days
of trying to get, get that primary win.
Um, but Seth gets the final question.
This is the question we ask every
candidate that comes on the show.
So go ahead, Seth.
That's right.
That's right.
So yeah, like sh- like she said, everybody
who comes on here, we have a little scale.
Uh, one side of the scale is
Chuck Schumer, the other side
is, uh, our guy Bernie Sanders.
And so, uh, and we love our
progressive candidates here.
Um, and so we always ask everybody, uh,
the, you know, progressive qualifications.
Are you committing to not taking PAC
money, uh, foreign- Yes … entity money,
billionaire money- Yes, yes … uh- None
of it … massive corporation money.
There we go.
So obviously- And you're
four days away from your primary and
you have made it all the way to the end-
Yeah
without any of that.
Running a senator campaign.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Great.
We're
totally- It's not cheap to run in
a, to be in- No … be in elections.
It should be funded publicly.
Like- Yes … it's not easy to run a
campaign like that and get- Yep … and
get, you know, people to see you, so-
Yeah
…
it's a, it's a big
thing to me.
Oh, yeah, no.
We, we are totally, uh,
individual contributions.
Um, and it's funny because there's
been some misinformation out there
where they're like, "Alani took 200K
of PAC money," and I'm like, "Folks-"
"… check the FEC filings" you know?
Mm-hmm.
And I… Like, people will scream,
and you know, people are really…
Like, their nervous systems are,
like, burnt to a crisp right now.
Yeah, yeah.
Everybody's really emotional, and we
try to stay as patient as possible, but
sometimes I'm like, "I hope you guys
saw that one of my platform items is
education, because critical thinking
is-" "… really important," you know?
Like- And it's in short supply.
Short supply.
Oh,
is
it ever.
Unfortunately.
So,
yeah.
No, it's like it, it is crazy,
'cause people say $200,000, like
how many TV ads am I running then?
Right.
You know, if I had all this money, I'd
be, I'd be h- hitting y'all over the
head into the local news, you'd see
me every commercial break, like- You
do Literally … it's
insane.
Literally.
So yeah.
Um, so yeah, I, no, I'm not taking
any dirty money, like none of that.
Yeah.
We categorically reject it, and we
actually think that you can win without
it, and that's what we're gonna prove, so.
Let's do it.
Yeah, absolutely.
We are wishing you the best of luck.
This has been a pleasure.
Like I said-
Absolutely
…
please say yes to coming back on the
show when you win this primary, because
there's just so much more to talk about.
I could talk about I-
everything for at least an hour.
We need way more time.
Um, but Alani, we're wishing you all
the best on Tuesday, and my fingers
are crossed and I can't wait to see.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
You guys are amazing, and can I just
say thank you, thank you, thank you
for hosting this platform, for using
your gifts to support democracy.
Um, it is so inspiring.
You know, we, when we hear people
that are like, "I don't think I
have anything to offer," I'm like,
"What's your favorite thing to do?
Offer that." Yeah, yeah.
So I'm just really thankful because
I know it can be hard when you're
like, "Are we making a difference?"
Like, could we be… Right?
Like all that stuff.
No, you guys are crushing it, and
I'm so thankful for both of- or all
three of you, including the producer.
Thank you.
Um, and I look forward to being
on after we win this primary.
Absolutely.
Let's go.
Thank you so much for saying that.
Let's go.
We really appreciate it.
Alani Bankhead, best of luck.
Big future ahead of you.
Can't wait to see what
happens on Tuesday Okay.
Bye.
Seth, Alani Bankhead, is she amazing?
Uh, you know, I- it, it
really is incredible, Ally.
You know, if you'd given me a, like, a
blank resume, say- Mm-hmm … with, like,
no picture on it, no nothing, you just
list the qualifications, there's no way
that Alani's supposed to be that nice.
I know.
That's
so true.
It, it doesn't make any sense.
So true.
Uh, she's so, so nice, so
personable, uh, you know, and-
Empathetic, kind
…
yeah.
And so, you know, to have that resume,
to have served in our military for as
long as she has, and grown up in it,
and then to go take it even further
to serve- Mm-hmm … you know, taking
care of the, the people who are
being trafficked all over the world.
S- where she's worked cases
in six different continents.
I mean, this is somebody who is
incredibly qualified and passionate- She
has seen the worst of the worst
…
yeah.
And so, like, it's just unbelievable
that she's such a nice person.
I know.
And so, like, I mean- That's such a great
point … how can you not like Alani?
How can you not- Yeah … Montana?
I know.
I mean, that's, that's who your
senator should be- Absolutely … a
person who is… You know, you're
not, you're not sacrificing the
resume to get a nice person.
You can have both, Montana.
You can have both the things.
Mm-hmm.
And, and Alani's i- is one of those.
I mean, unbelievable.
So glad that we got to talk with her.
Me too.
And I mean, boy, what a great person.
Really pulling for her
to win that primary.
Um, her primary is in four days from
now, so we're gonna push this episode
out quickly, um, so that, you know,
people can get to know her better.
Hopefully, you know, we'll, we'll
show up in someone's feed that
hasn't met her yet or seen her yet.
Yeah.
And, um, we're just really excited
to see how that primary goes for her,
pulling for her, crossing our fingers.
Um, she's the right person for the job.
Right.
Bar none.
Any West Coast, Midwest people-
Mm-hmm … if you know people in
Montana, please let them know about her.
Yeah.
Please.
Please, because, you know, this
is a person who is in tune with
the people of that community.
Uh, she knows the farming
community very well.
Um, and, and you know, she
knows that Montana is a
different kind of people, right?
She talked about they want their
guns and they want some cannabis.
Mm-hmm.
Like, and, and, and, and
that's a unique blend.
You don't get that in many states.
So she is a different type of person for
a different kind of folks in Montana.
Yeah.
And I mean, she, she
deserves the nomination.
Absolutely.
All right.
So, um, we have another
recording session tomorrow.
That's for a bonus episode.
Woo.
And, um, real quick, so
Seth- You and I met online.
We have never met in person.
Um, we met via TikTok, and we-
Mm-hmm
…
showed up on panels in Lives together,
and then we ended up co-hosting a
Live together for over a year now.
That's right.
And then we decided to get into the
podcast space because we really wanted
to push change in the country via all
of these great progressive candidates
that we're meeting and talking to
almost every day at this point.
Um- It's unreal … so much
so I'm losing my voice, guys.
So, um, I know.
Crazy.
So we are going to be meeting in person
in a few weeks because we are traveling-
Mm … to cover an event and meet with
a special candidate, and let's just
keep it there, but it's confirmed.
We are going.
We are traveling.
We are meeting in person.
We're gonna document it all.
I'm so excited, Seth.
Oh, I, I'm, I'm, I'm so
shocked and so excited.
And, you know, all, all… So much
credit goes to you because you really,
you really, you know, hunted this p-
this particular, uh, campaign down.
And folks, this is one of the biggest
names in the progressive movement, period.
It's gonna be a treat.
You're gonna wanna tune in for that.
I'm gonna ha- I'm gonna bring
my fancy schmancy camera-
and some microphones, and we're
gonna- Yeah … do this thing right.
Yeah.
And, uh, and hopefully we'll meet some
other people, uh, along the way there.
And yeah, I mean, I'm j- I'm juiced up.
I'm so excited.
Juiced up.
Let's go.
So excited.
So that's gonna be in a few weeks.
We're getting a bunch of recording
done right now, and, um, then we have
a little bit of a pause, and then,
like, that first week of June, and
then we got some traveling to do.
So stay tuned for that, you guys.
It's really excited.
We're so excited.
We can't wait to bring that to you.
And, um, that's it for today.
I'm gonna see you bright
and early tomorrow morning.
I mean, we're talking 12 hours
from now I'm gonna be seeing you,
Seth, but it's primary season.
Yeah.
Gotta do it, baby.
Gotta do it.
Gotta do it.
Let's go.
See you tomorrow.
All right,
bye.