Transcript: Senator Tina Smith Says Dems Need Big Ideas Like Mamdani’s

But what I believe more is that the Democratic Party cannot just be the anti-Trump party. We have tried that, and look where we are. And if we aren’t challenging the status quo aggressively, if we aren’t proposing better ideas for how to make sure that people in this country can see a way for their work to have meaning, for their kids to have a chance, then we’re gonna continue to be in the wilderness. We’re gonna continue to be a minority party, and we’re not gonna be able to compete for those votes.

I mean, I refuse to believe that there aren’t votes that Democrats can win in your home state — of course there are. But not if we’re just sort of a pale version of the Republicans, or we’re sort of defending the status quo, or we are talking about minor tweaks when fundamentally massive things are wrong.

To me, that’s the through line through these elections, and, you know, what’s happened last year, and what I hope will happen in 2026.

Bacon: I’m not sure if you’ve endorsed Zohran. I’m not… I, you know, you’re not in New York even, but I mean, have you liked what you’ve heard in that campaign?

Senator Smith: Oh, sure. Yeah. I mean, I’m a senator from Minnesota, and I don’t usually endorse in other mayor’s races, but I’m super enthusiastic about, um, Mamdani.

I think that it’s incredibly— I mean, I’m an organizer. I came into politics working at the grassroots and going door to door and talking to people about what mattered to them. And the way that he has mobilized voters, the way that he is unafraid to propose big ideas and big solutions for the big challenges that New Yorkers have affording their lives — there’s a lot for us to learn from that.

And, um, especially when you compare him to the corruption of an Andrew Cuomo — I mean, come on.

But again, what I love about him is that he is not just anti-Cuomo. He’s proposing something that has obviously really excited a bunch of people.

And we need to do more of that.

Bacon: I guess the question is like, what does a transformative idea look like in national politics? Because I think you could — the sort of free buses and free childcare, we should do that nationally. But I think free buses may not apply to Louisville as much, or Minneapolis — maybe Minneapolis more.

But in terms of, are there other — what does it look like to sort of scale that ambition, but on a national scale?

Senator Smith: Yeah. Well, so, my friend Chris Murphy says something that I think is really smart. He says that, you know, our policy needs to be our message.

And, I mean, so here’s just an example of that. ‘Cause I think that we know what are the 80% issues that most Americans care about — that we need to be offering actual solutions to.

I mean, everybody should have paid family and medical leave. Okay, so now you could, you could say, you know, paid family and medical leave for everybody and we’re gonna do free childcare for everybody.

Or you could say you shouldn’t have to pay more than 7% of your income for childcare, and we’re gonna pass a law that establishes a sliding scale for childcare so that you can afford it.

Bacon: Okay. That’s good. That’s actually very practical. The Democratic response is normally some kind of tax credit that’s very hard to understand.

Senator Smith: Yes, and we care about it. You know, we want it to work. We’re actually trying to make government do what it should be doing, which is to improve the lives of Americans, rather than being a tool to consolidate wealth and power in the hands of fewer and fewer people and big corporations.

Bacon: Final thing is… my mom would tell me not to bring up people’s age usually, but I think that you’re 67, is that right?

Senator Smith: That is true. I’m proud of it.

Bacon: So the important thing over the audience is, uh, Senator Smith is not running for reelection next year. Her seat is up and she’s not running. There’s, and there’s a real discourse about age and the Democratic Party, and I wanna ask you about this. You know, I’ll give my own bias here.

I think Senator Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith are excellent senators, and I’m glad they’re there and they’re older than I am and age in their cases is a number. And maybe they, you know, maybe they can’t run marathons or what have you. Maybe you can.

Senator Smith: I don’t. No, I never could.

Bacon: Yeah, but I just think that some of our best senators are older.

At the same time, I respect the perspective that maybe younger people, or the, the, the entire Congress might be — as a group — might be too old, even if I like some of the older people.

So, I respect your decision. So I want you to talk about what made you make it, and what you think about the sort of age issue in the party.

Senator Smith: Well, so it’s pretty funny because, you know, I’ll have people come up to me — like if I’m walking around the lake in Minneapolis, and I’m walking around with my husband Archie — and people will come up to me and they’ll say, you know, thank you so much for deciding not to run. I really appreciate it.

And I say to Archie, to be clear, like, they like me — it’s just they appreciated what I was, the step that I’m taking.

And so, I mean, honestly, one of the things about me and my life is that there — I mean, there’s so many interesting things to do. There’s so many useful things to do. There’s so many ways of making good trouble. I will have served in the Senate for nine years when I’m done, and I look at where I wanna be when I’m 74, 75, and I wanna be doing something else.

But, like, core for me is I look at my state and I see that we have talented, young, progressive leaders that are more than ready to step into this role and step into this fight. And I get a big… I love to think about, like, making space for them. To me, that is part of my legacy as a progressive leader myself.

But, you know, the other thing you’re saying is that it’s not — of course, it isn’t just about age. I mean, Graham Platner has said this in Maine. It’s not about age. It’s about, like, the power of your ideas.

And I mean, I would argue that — I would argue with anybody — that Bernie and Elizabeth are doing incredibly important work to chart a course forward for their states and for our party nationally.

And so, it isn’t about age so much as it is about your willingness to go against and challenge the status quo — not be part of the establishment. Neither Bernie nor Elizabeth are part of the establishment. And that is why they’re… and the establishment protects itself, right? It protects itself, and that’s not what they’re about.

And I think, to me, that’s the difference.

Bacon: But for you, you think stepping aside is important — I mean, in general though, you think more people in the party, forget, without naming anybody — more senators, more House members should step aside after seven, one term, two terms, something like that?

Senator Smith: I mean, the way I look at it is, because I sometimes I know… I am not burdened by the idea that I am the only one who can do this job.

Bacon: Okay.

Senator Smith: I can see other folks. Now, if you’re trying to win in Ohio and you’re Sherrod Brown — who is one of my dear friends and a passionate advocate for working people — like, God love him for being willing to stay in the fight. But that’s not Minnesota. You know, I’m very excited about the folks that could step in.

And so that’s, like, the important predicate to any decision that I would make about this. And too many people think that they’re the only one. And that’s a bit of a conceit that happens when you’ve been in the Senate for a long time, and you believe that that’s the case.

And again, it’s not just about age. It’s about your willingness to kind of challenge the conventional thinking and try to actually make the systemic change that needs to be made. I think.

Bacon: Okay. Senator Smith, on that note, I appreciate you coming on. Thanks for talking to me.

Senator Smith: Thanks a lot, Perry. It’s great to visit with you.

Bacon: Good to see you. Bye-bye.