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  • You have a new book to help voters.

  • So it is Our Time Is Now.

  • You want to tell everybody about that?

  • So that's going to help people with the voting process also.

  • Absolutely.

  • Thank you.

  • Our Time Is Now is a book I started writing early in 2019

  • in the wake of not only my election, but in the wake

  • of the voter suppression that happened here

  • and around the country.

  • And so the first half of the book

  • talks about the history of voter suppression,

  • but how we fight back.

  • But I also spend a lot of time talking about the instruments

  • of justice--

  • like the census.

  • The US Census is something we tend to take

  • for granted as an annoyance.

  • It's just accounting.

  • But really what it is, it's an analysis of power.

  • When you participate in the census,

  • you not only tell people where you are,

  • you tell them what you need.

  • And the undercount that happens in the census

  • means that the very communities that need the help the most

  • don't get the financial resources they're entitled to,

  • but they also don't get the political power.

  • Yeah.

  • How do you think Joe Biden has been handling everything

  • in the past few months?

  • I have been exceptionally impressed by his willingness

  • to listen, his willingness to go into spaces that may not always

  • be comfortable, but more importantly, to be

  • accountable-- to say the things that are hard and harsh,

  • the things that may cost him some votes

  • because he knows that what he's standing for

  • is the principle of who we are as Americans.

  • And his willingness to anger some in order to empower all

  • is exactly what we need in a leader.

  • Yep.

  • So true.

  • It's exciting to think that your name is

  • on the short list for vice president.

  • How do you-- how do you-- are you excited?

  • I have been very candid about the fact

  • that if somebody liked me, I'd be happy to like them back.

  • I think unfortunately early on, I was--

  • a few weeks ago, I started talking.

  • I went on a few television shows,

  • but people missed my point.

  • I was trying to help families that weren't

  • getting their stimulus checks.

  • I live in a state where the governor

  • was trying to kill us by reopening the state too

  • quickly.

  • And so they missed the first 2/3 of what I said and focused

  • on the last piece.

  • But that said, I think Vice President Biden

  • knows who he needs as a partner, and he's

  • going to follow the process of his experience

  • and he's going to decide who he needs,

  • and I'm honored to even have my name included in the mix.

  • Do you know-- I mean, I was hoping

  • he would have announced by now.

  • Do you know anything about when he's going to announce?

  • He said that he intends to make a decision by August,

  • and that's in keeping with the timing of the convention, which

  • is pretty normal.

  • But again, I think what we need to remember

  • is that this is an incredibly important decision.

  • He has a lot to consider.

  • He has a really smart team, but this is a really smart man

  • who's done the job.

  • He's going to know what he needs,

  • and we all look forward to finding out what he decides.

  • Yeah.

  • I bet you do.

  • I bet you do look forward to it.

  • Well, Stacey's book is called Our Time Is Now,

  • and it's out now.

  • You're marvelous, and thank you for taking the time

  • to talk to me today.

  • And I look forward to talking to you again as we get closer

  • to the election--

  • Or maybe Madam Vice President.

  • Or maybe calling you Madam Vice President next time.

  • I just think of you as the bookstore owner

  • who made me laugh for a number of years

  • when I used to watch your show.

  • I'm the daughter of a librarian from Gulfport, Mississippi.

  • And I knew you were from Metairie, Louisiana.

  • And when you started the Ellen Show, it was the most fun.

  • So it's my pleasure to get to be here.

  • Oh, thanks.

  • Well, my aunt was a English teacher.

  • She lived in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

  • So I used to go there all the time.

  • Well, thank you again.

  • And I'm honored that you used to watch my sitcom.

  • Thank you so much, and I hope to see you soon.

  • Thank you.

  • Take care.

You have a new book to help voters.

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