And I think articulating that to a national audience is really sort of like what I'm asking.

The stakes are incredibly high.

I mean, when I was working at Sunrise Movement, I was working in D.C. on the Green New Deal and the Build Back Better agenda.

You know, I heard folks say, you know, well, we can't extend the child tax credit and keep millions of children out of poverty because people in, you know, Michigan's 7th District are more concerned about the deficit.

We can't invest in renewable energy because what people in mid-Michigan 7th District want is more tax breaks for billionaires.

And we certainly can't cut the war budget because what people in Michigan 7th District want is more endless wars around the world.

I mean, this is the lie that is told by the corporate lobbyists in D.C. and the politicians who they have paid off to say that what people want in frontline swing districts like mine is more giveaways to corporations, more wars around the world and for everything else to stay the same.

Theory of campaigning and the relationship with your volunteers in the community that is different than you're probably seeing from the Republican across the way or would have been with a typical Democrat that we see that corporate Democrat with a D.

What are ways that you see Congress having some agency to tackle a very broad issue that encompasses many different kinds of costs?

One of the big causes of the cost has been the Trump's tariff agenda.

Michigan has been impacted more than any other state in the country by the tariffs.

And I've been hearing about that all over.

I believe that tariffs, when applied consistently and strategically, can be a part of our economic strategy, but it requires consistency.

And what Trump is doing is the opposite of that.

I mean, he wakes up in the morning and he decides whether the tariff rate should be five or 25 or 55%, depending on, I guess, his mood this morning or God knows what else, which advisor was in his ear last.

What would you like to see the federal government do to create some ground rules within this very quickly evolving industry?

So what is your sense of Democratic leadership, and are people like Hakeem Jeffries going to go along with bills like the Bernie bill, that it is const- calling for a pause on all AI development?

development?I haven't had that conversation yet with leadership, so that's something we'll take up on November fourth.

Um, but, uh, it does seem like there's a moment right now where, um, people really are waking up in a sincere way to the threats that are coming from AI.

I mean, the scenarios you just described that the labs are, you know, scenario planning.

I, I think there is an opportunity, not just among the Democrats, but I think there may be some, some genuine opportunity for, uh, uh, even a modest degree of bipartisanship to move on some of these issues in January.

Now, maybe that's optimistic.

We'll have to see.

Mm-hmm

He seems to be meeting the constituents where there are by criticizing the war.

You know, he... is doing one thing and saying the other.

The fact of the matter is when the stakes were highest in the earliest days of the war, he voted twice to allow the president to continue the war.

Then when it didn't matter and they knew it wasn't going to impact anything, Trump gave him a pass to vote against it a couple of times.

when it mattered most and there was a razor-thin vote on authorization to fund the war, Barrett voted for it.

He could have voted to actually deny funding to continue this war, which would have forced the president to bring it to a close.

He voted to give what's now $43 billion and counting to this disastrous war, which has made us poorer and weaker, while people here in mid-Michigan are paying gas and grocery prices through the roof because of the damage that's been done.

How do you measure the impact the top of the ticket's going to have on your race?

Did that make you think a little differently about, you know, the national work you were doing? I mean, how did, uh, the kind of work on something m- a little more tangible, did it make you see a disconnect that maybe wasn't as clear coming from the, um, from the national perspective with Sunrise?

Sure.

I mean, I think it's fair to say that when I was younger, I got very focused on this climate issue, and I was very focused on it because it is this existential crisis we all face.

But it was after the pandemic that, you know, I wanted to bring my work closer to home.

And I wanted to, you know, do the work of putting down roots in the place that had raised me and, you know, make my life there.

And in seeking to organize there, it was clear that, you know, we needed an in, uh, to organize that was more immediate.

And-

If the policies, uh, I think as many of you have argued, are, are beneficial to Black communities, why isn't that trust been there?

Did that make you think a little differently about, you know, the national work you were doing? I mean, how did, uh, the kind of work on something m- a little more tangible, did it make you see a disconnect that maybe wasn't as clear coming from the, um, from the national perspective with Sunrise?

Sure.

I mean, I think it's fair to say that when I was younger, I got very focused on this climate issue, and I was very focused on it because it is this existential crisis we all face.

But it was after the pandemic that, you know, I wanted to bring my work closer to home, and I wanted to, you know, do the work of putting down roots in the place that had raised me and, you know, make my life there.

And in seeking to organize there, it was clear that, you know, we needed an in, uh, to organize that was more immediate.

And-

If the policies, uh, I think as many of you have argued, are, are beneficial to Black communities, why isn't that trust been there?

I think trust is built by relationships, you know, and just doing the work, and so what I can speak for is the fact that, you know, I've got strong relationships in the Black community in Lansing that was anchored in my housing work, working alongside Black-led organizations to stop evictions and build affordable housing, and I've continued to strengthen those relationships, um, throughout the community over the course of the campaign.

It can stop these companies that have more money from

God steamrolling over localities.

Yeah.

That's why my plan has two steps.

Step one, we got to put a pause on new data center construction and advanced AI deployment.

Second of all, we need to have an AI benefits compact at the national level to ensure that if we are going to do this, Everybody is going to benefit.

Rising tide is going to lift all boats.

mean, I think about the

topic among the left, not even the far left, right? I mean, these are pretty median voters, regular folks that are coming together, saying that our state leaders aren't listening to us.

And, you know, yes, and it's I would say not just the far left, not just the liberal Democrats, but independent voters and, you know, died in the role will Republican and Trump voters.

I mean, people have seen that everybody from Donald Trump.

to Gretchen Whitmer have been united in rolling out the red carpet for these data centers.

Trump has been very vocal in his support of the big tech companies.

And then Whitmer took this photo op with Sam Altman in Saline.

And the story there is very instructive because the residents of Saline said, we don't want this data center.

And then I'm curious if Sam's seen that just like in general, a vibe on the ground.

You're going to have to start dealing with maybe planning applications, depending what route you go down.

Yeah, I mean, it's hard to say exactly what my role would look like in a reorganised system or indeed what the geography is going to be.

I know that there's three options that have been developed for Nottinghamshire and, you know, we don't know yet which configuration will be taken forward.

But I mean, stepping back, my overall view on LGR is that it is completely necessary and I'm willing to embrace it.

I certainly think, you know, moving away from fragmented sort of district level planning to larger authorities where you've got a bigger canvas to paint on is a good thing right you know it means that we can probably plan for instead of sort of small to medium developments it means you can maybe allocating much larger sites than where we've we were before uh you know sort of new communities or new towns that sort of reach that critical mass for for new infrastructure on site, which you don't get in this sort of, you know, more piecemeal approach to planning.

So I definitely think that, you know, from a planning point of view and from a housing growth point of view, it's a really good thing.

I also think there's a lot of efficiencies that can be made.

But I'm not sure, Will, do you experience that a lot at county because it's very different?

What do you feel like once you get in there and you're in those rooms, what are you going to be advocating for as like America's AI policy writ large?

Yeah, the energy policy is a big part of it.

We simply can't allow this to torch the planet if we're going to be building new natural gas all over the country, which is going to cook the planet even farther than we've already done.

But really, we need an AI and data center social compact so that people believe that the benefits of this technology will genuinely be shared by everybody.

People are willing to accept shared sacrifice when they believe that there is going to be shared benefit for the common good.

And what we have here is that, again, the proponents are saying, this is the cost of progress.

Accept this sacrifice for the sake of progress.

Where are you running? Where can people find you?