It brought us to this place where people are losing agency and so they're losing hope. And that's really bad for a free society, a society that relies on that self-rule that we were talking about. So I think that one of the most important things that we're doing here is offering people an invitation to revisit these founding principles and recommit to them in a way that brings hope and empowerment back. to people who have been on that decline and believing that the American dream is out of reach. And I think that it's so important to do that, especially throughout the entirety of the year, not just on the actual birthday of America, but having the entire year be, yes, a celebration of our country's founding, but also a celebration with a purpose about what happens to our country for the next two years. Americans are capable of achieving extraordinary things when they have the freedom and opportunity to do so. This is American Potential. Welcome to the American Potential Podcast. I'm your host, David Fromm. So 250 years ago, a group of men came together and stood up to a king. They said, our rights don't come from a king or the government. They come from our creator. Things like self-governance and freedom and dignity. These are principles that undergird our Declaration of Independence and the founding of our nation. And these founding principles are still alive today and are being defended today in our nation by men and women who stand up for our rights and really get involved and fight for our freedom. And that's why we've been talking about the One Small Step Campaign. What that is, is recognizing folks who took that first step to preserve the American dream here in America and our fidelity to the founding principles. So the podcast is going around to the America 250 birthday celebrations that AFP is hosting. The first one's here in Philadelphia, and we're excited to be at it. And we're excited to tell the stories of those men and women who took that first step. I'm excited to welcome one of our favorite guests, the CEO of Americans for Prosperity, Emily Seidel, back to the podcast to kind of talk about these A250 celebrations and the One Small Step campaign. Emily, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks, David. Thanks for inviting me back. Yeah, well, hey, so thrilled to be here in Philadelphia. I usually never say that, but- As a Vikings fan, I agree. I'm a Giants fan, so even more so. It runs deep. But we're making an exception for this trip because it's for such a great reason. And it really is kind of the birthplace of freedom, the birthplace of our nation. And we're talking a lot about the One Small Step, a lot of people that people can take that we're encouraging people to take. And then looking back through history. But I want to hear from you. I mean, you run, you spent a career in public policy and politics and you run one of the nation's largest grassroots advocacy organizations in AFP. But like what started you down that path? It's a great question. I was actually talking to my parents a couple of weeks ago and they reminded me that when I was like 10, I wrote a letter to the editor of our local hometown newspaper in Minnesota. I don't even remember what it was about. I do remember I was very proud I used one of the vocabulary words I had learned at school, scapegoat. But it was something that I had heard my parents talking about, probably something that had to do with my dad's work. He was in health care. So that was, I think, probably technically my first one small step. But I'm not going to count that. Actually, what I think is more on point with the campaign that we have here, encouraging people to think about it and proactively take one. So much of my career in politics was just kind of I stumbled into opportunities. It wasn't. Yeah, it happens to a lot of people that way. Right. And so it wasn't super intentional, but the first intentional thing I ever did was come to AFP. Really? Yeah. It was the first choice that I felt like I had to to step up my civic engagement. And so as a consequence, the first door I ever knocked was when I was 40 years old. It's never too late to start, people. It's never too late to start. and um and i remember being so nervous and i'd been working in politics for 20 years at that point and um and but somehow you know talking to members of the house and senate talking to a president at one point i wasn as nervous as I was to just walk up to my neighbor house and have a conversation And so taking out that first step has stuck with me. And I don't think I did a very good job on that first door, but every time I knock on a new person's door and get to have a conversation, I learn more about our country and I get better at advocating for the things we advocate for here at AFB. Yeah, I guess kind of the scary part that sometimes make people nervous is you don't know what's behind that door like what that person could really disagree and want to be argumentative that person could be it can be a great conversation but yeah you just never know and uh we were talking to some of our guests earlier who have been taking you know i've been doing some great work in pennsylvania and taking and you're just really super activists um and one thing that's really i think is important and i think that afp provides this is kind of some courage from being with others, some strength in numbers. Yeah. And I always say that, like, you know, we we try to aggregate voices so people can, you know, instead of just yelling at the TV, they can kind of have their voice be more impactful. So, you know, we've launched the One Small Step campaign. We're trying to highlight this and encourage people to get involved. You know, why is that important for a group like Americans for Prosperity? Because if people believe in the founding principles of our country, which, by the way, the principles are what make America exceptional, because no other country on earth was founded in these same ideals. And so if people are connected to them and feel ownership to defend them, then they also have to feel like they can make a difference in that defense of our principles. And that's what grassroots activism does. does. It offers people an opportunity to get involved and be stronger together than they would be as individuals. Yeah, I think the strength in numbers is something that really stands out to me. And, you know, you look back on the founding and the founding fathers. I mean, there were some people like Sam Adams, who was very bold and all that. But then the Sons of Liberty, I'm sure there's guys in there who wouldn't have stood up by themselves or, you know, the folks who, you know, were in Independence Hall right down the street here, you know, who, you know, people were scared because they were they were taking a huge risk obviously the risk of their lives and their property and everything but um i think it's a great example though of how people have decided to take that that step and even take that step collectively together so i'm so glad that you can have this gathering tonight and then in in other uh in other states across the nation for the whole uh year what well and on that note let me just interrupt you for a second because on that note But the idea that was born here, the reason why we call Philadelphia the birthplace of America is because this is where people said, you know what, I think we can rule ourselves. Yeah. Which was a radical, radical idea at the time. But to do that effectively, it requires that you rely on your fellow patriots, your fellow neighbors, your community, etc. And so that's why it's so important to be here to kick this off, because that's what our entire country is founded on. And that's what AFP stands to defend. Well, it was inspirational earlier today, even though it's freezing out. We wandered around and took some video and stuff over at the Liberty Bell and then at Independence Hall. And it's kind of like, you know, I'm used to seeing historical places. I've been around. And I was like, wow, that's where it happened. Like that's where this, I mean, super transformative thinking, writing, speaking decisions were made to say, hey, our rights aren't from the government, not from the king. They're from our creator. And so many other of the founding principles that we're trying to highlight here and that we're talking and are still alive and crucial to our undergirding our democracy now. So how do you see the series of A250 events that we're going to do around these birthday parties for America? How do you see them playing into that, our strategy and our desire to help reinforce the principles of our nation's founding? Yeah, I think I'm going to go negative for just a second because you have to think about what's happening in our country right now. We've made a big deal about how pride in being an American is at an all time low. But that's not the only thing that's going in the wrong direction. You also have people who are increasingly believing that the American dream is just out of reach for them and they're losing faith in it. And you've got people who are starting to think that there's really nothing that they can do to change the course of history for our country, that their voices don't matter and they're not confident that if they spoke up that it would do anything. And I don think it a coincidence that all of those things that are going in the wrong direction are happening at the same time as the size and scope of government has been growing So as government gets bigger it takes over more of an individual person agency personal responsibility And that has brought us to this place where people are losing agency and so they're losing hope. and that's really bad for a free society, a society that relies on that self-rule that we were talking about. So I think that one of the most important things that we're doing here is offering people an invitation to revisit these founding principles and recommit to them in a way that brings hope and empowerment back to people who have been on that decline and believing that the American dream is out of reach. And I think that it's so important to do that, especially throughout the entirety of the year, not just on the actual birthday of America, but having the entire year be, yes, a celebration of our country's founding, but also a celebration with a purpose about what happens to our country for the next 250 years. So you use the word that I really love, And I focus on a lot for the work that we do, which is empowerment. And I think that at its essence, it's one of the key defining characteristics of what AFP does in the work we try to do. Are there any stories like that over the years you've seen or, you know, kind of thought about that, kind of encapsulate that someone being empowered to take action? Yeah, I will. It's part of the reason I love this job so much is I get to travel the country and meet people who are on a journey of having their voice make a difference in some way, shape or form in their community or in our country. And so there are a lot of stories that have stuck with me. But the one that really stands out, you actually covered on a previous podcast episode. Yeah. It's Will in Wisconsin with the brewery. So for people who don't know the story, they should absolutely go back and listen to the full episode. The highlight of the story, or low light, as it were, is that Will's family owned a bar. He wanted to start a brewery. The state told him he couldn't do both of those things at the same time for whatever reason. The monopoly on beer producing and selling, apparently. And the solution that the government gave him was to divorce his wife. but actually that was enough he also had to disown his kids so that they could own and operate the bar and the brewery separately right so that's the story in a nutshell will tells the story way better and you should everybody should listen to your episode on that but the reason it stands out to me is what i was talking about earlier where people think that their voice doesn't matter when i worked on capitol hill one of my jobs was just answering the mainline phones and so people would call the government, Congress, for help with things that Congress should not have been helping them with and wasn't equipped to help them with. Their neighbors, their churches were much better positioned to do it. And it made me realize that in our society, people were turning to the government when they should have been turning to civil society instead for help. And so Will's story stands out to me because it reminds me of that experience when I was a young Hill staffer, because he did the same thing. He went to his elected representatives. He went to the regulatory agencies and he said, hey, this seems crazy. Can you help me? and now this might be where the story has become lore and so maybe it's uh maybe it's a little bit exaggerated but at some point during that journey he heard about Americans for Prosperity and somebody within the government apparatus was like oh no you don't want to work with them they're you know they'll burn it down and in his mind he was like well that's what we need right like this this situation is so crazy and you guys aren't helping me so I'm going to go to this group out here. And this is, again, what we do. We empower people to drive change, to solve the problems in their own backyards. And so we partnered with Will and his story. This also is the power of storytelling. His story was so absurd that it galvanized people in his community to, to, you know, petition the government basically through their voices and change and change the regulation And so anyway that one stands out to me because it touches on not just the experience that I had when I was first introduced to government and thought this isn quite right But it also touches on exactly what this campaign is about agency and the power of people's voices to drive change. So tonight we have the first A250 event. What's it going to be like? Oh, it's going to be a packed house. First of all, I cannot believe how many people are coming and it's going to be so much fun. We've got the Ruthless podcast guys here. They are amazing, irreverent, sometimes political commentators. Not everybody always agrees with everything that they say, but that's kind of the point, right? We ought to be having these discussions and having difficult conversations. And they're so fun too. And so super excited for the Ruthless podcast guys to be here. Guy Benson will be here from Fox News. He's on AFP's advisory council as well. He's just a wonderful partner. And who else is going to be here? Oh, the first, the quarterback that took the Philadelphia. Oh, Lon Jaworski. Jaws. Yeah, should hit their first Super Bowl. Yeah. And I'm, it's hard for me, but I'm super excited. I'm sure the crowd is going to love him. Yeah. Jaws. Yeah. I guess one in Philly, I guess. Yeah. And then Stacey Garrity is going to be here. She's the Pennsylvania state treasurer. And, you know, certainly in the system of government that our founding fathers devised. The the the fact that we we we the people choose to give the president the government power over some aspects of our lives and then fund that power through taxpayer dollars. That stewardship is so incredibly important, that trust that we give. And so I'm really looking forward to hearing what Stacey Garrity has to say about that. Well, I know it's going to be super fun. I know there was put a lot of work into it and it's just going to be great. And it kicks off a whole year of festivities. I'm so excited. The next one's coming to my home state of Illinois right now. So we're very excited for that. Yeah, on Lincoln's birthday, nonetheless, right? Right, yep. In Springfield, in fact. So it should be a good time. So as we kind of wrap up, I'd love to hear from you, at the end of this year, what do you hope has changed or what do you hope has occurred for the positive as a result of this whole effort? Well, I hope that there's more hope. I hope that that people take the time to not just celebrate our country. This isn't just about loving America more. It's about more deeply understanding this country so that we can recommit to what's important about about it for the next 250 years. And so I hope that people take the time to engage with these these principles and see themselves in them in the world. And that and so whether that's through stories like Will's or through taking their own one small step and talking with with others about what it felt like, you know, knocking on that door for the first time or going to a town hall for the first time. And at the end of the day, I hope that more people connect to these principles and realize that they are meaningful, not just for our country, but for their lives as individuals. These are principles that we can live through in our friendships, in our marriages, in our work, and in our civic duty. Well, it's a great campaign that I'm so excited for. We're going to have a lot of fun, but I do, I love, on this show, we've been talking a lot about the One Small Step campaign, And I think it's, frankly, it's just good for my soul to be talking to these people who are doing amazing things and really, you know, helping people achieve the American dream and preserve the bounding principles. But I really think that it's that the activity that hopefully can be further spurred can keep making a difference in people's lives and preserving this nation, making it even grow greater and greater. So I appreciate the effort that AFP is doing and excited to be part of it. Well, we're excited that you're here in Philly. Looking forward to a great night. Yeah. Awesome. Thanks. Yeah. Well, folks, if you like this episode, please like and subscribe to our channels and then follow us on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. And always remember, freedom and liberty are easily taken for granted. Don't take them for granted. Go out there and defend freedom and liberty. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you on the next episode. Thank you for listening to American Potential. You may listen to more stories from Americans working every day to expand freedom and opportunity in their communities by visiting AmericanPotential.com.
