Maria Shriver interview

Ryan Brumley53min

Steve Schmidt

00:04

I am very pleased today to be joined by my very good friend Maria Shriver, who is an exceptional person. In more ways than one, I always tell people, when they asked me, who are the most exceptional people you've met in your career, Maria is always at the top of my list. One of the I always say 10 smartest people hands down I've ever met, brilliant person, kind person. And someone who has a very optimistic and unique perspective, I think in a very troubled time. And your Sunday paper, which is read by me and hundreds of 1000s, each Sunday, you had a column, which really struck me, because you use the phrase that I use a lot, and I'm very aware of people using around me all the time. And it was not a phrase that I have any consciousness really, of living with thinking about, even five years ago, or 10 years ago, it's not colloquial, to my childhood to my region. And the phrase is, it's a lot. And the notion of your piece is that there are all over America, people dealing with a multitude of difficult issues, and that there's this consensus in so many people around. It's a lot. What does that mean? It's a lot.

Speaker 1

01:47

They will before I answer that, Steve, let me just say first, I'm happy to be here. But I want to know who the other nine people are on the 10 that you said, I'm one of the 10 smartest people. So who are the other nine?

Steve Schmidt

02:01

I want to know, I will, I will tell you the people, I always say that just immediately as I as I flesh this out, because, you know, I've met I've met a lot of people in my in my career and in life. You are you are hands down on that list. I put the Chief Justice John Roberts is is immediately, you know, kind of comes to mind on that on that list. And there are a handful of other people. But how about I'm not I'm not on the list, Maria, but I'm smart enough not to try to name that list of people, particularly in front of one of the 10 people. Okay, so

Speaker 1

02:41

do you are there any qualities that get you on the list and get you off the list? Are there any things?

Steve Schmidt

02:46

So I do say, I do say all the time is that you have a way of seeing the world that is unique, that is broad, and visionary. And I think you know, I've worked with all the best political consultants, certainly in the Republican Party as involved in democratic politics, per se, through the Lincoln project. I know all the Democratic strategists I you know, ran a political campaign with you and it would not have won without you. And you're a brilliant political strategist I one of the very finest, you know, I've ever known. But more broadly than that, I think in the culture it will you appreciate is that politics is downrange downriver from our culture. And that we talk about politics as if it's on an island isolated apart from or the headwaters. And it's not, and it's such an obvious and intuitive thing. But most people are completely divorced from this, you're not. Now I've always thought that that makes you really unique in the constellation of people that you sit around a table with, and you have these discussions about what should the message be to a state of 40 million people or to a nation of 330 million people is the entire premise that there's common interest, a fallacy? Is it a illusion, is it a delusion? And I think that the ability to find common interest through a set of values without anger, rancor, judgmentalism is an exceptional skill. And for example, when you were first lady in California, your women's conferences were these enormous event events. Overflowing 10s of 1000s of people wanting to go to these and it was because you were able to inspire and it's a rare quality to see any machine, you know, do that. But to see a friend do it up close, it's a real, it's a real part of some that I have a lot of gratitude for my life.

Speaker 1

05:08

Thank you, Steve. And well, as you well know, I grew up in a political family. And so I was always had my ear to the ground about politics and then went into journalism and so covered politics from a different point of view. But I've always felt that there actually is a lot that brings us together that we do have in common. And I've spent a lot of time talking about the American family about women in particular women who work women who provide women who take care of aging parents, women who are parent teen, how does the work structure how does government deal with that? How do workplaces deal with that? How do we talk about this whole part of the population in a different way than we had been talking about it in the past, that's something that was very important to me as first lady of California, because California has more women in it than any other state. And there's, there's California sirens, but more women, business owners, more women who are providing partnering. And certainly as an Alzheimer's advocate, I've seen millions of people in the caregiving space, the cost cuts across gender as well. And I see a lot of issues that I don't think a lot of political leaders are talking about. I don't see a lot of political leaders talking about the caregiving crisis in our country today. And I think that's something that brings people of all political parties together all walks of life together, because everybody's dealing with how do we care for aging parents? How do we? What are our character? What is our character around that? What are our values around that? How do we raise up a generation that wants to care for aging parents? So I think there are a lot of things that we do have in common that we're politics is, you know, not in the conversation, but as a means by how we can make the conversation better. So at my dinner table, there are people of different political persuasions, who talk about gun reform, who talk about immigration who talk about caregiving, who talk about child rearing, who talk about flexible work hours, who talk about wanting to learn how to converse in a calm, compassionate way, who talk about having a lot on their plate, but also wanting to be the kinds of people that bring about change in a positive way in our country. And I think, I think people from what I've been able to kind of hear in the zeitgeist is people want leaders that brace them up that point to where we're going in an aspirational way, that use language that brings people together. That's realistic, but that's not about just attacking one another. But that's about finding things that we have in common. And I do believe we have so much more in common than we're led to believe. Why do

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