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<v Speaker 1>Joining us now is a man who, I mean, for

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<v Speaker 1>more than half of his life has been in Democratic politics.

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<v Speaker 1>Jason Ray was first a delegate at the age of seventeen,

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<v Speaker 1>the youngest person to ever be a delegate at the

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<v Speaker 1>I think anywhere. I don't recall hearing of any Republicans

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<v Speaker 1>that have done that younger. I have to ask, what

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<v Speaker 1>did your parents do to you to make you want

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<v Speaker 1>to go into politics at seventeen?

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<v Speaker 2>Jason?

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<v Speaker 3>You know, my parents weren't into politics at all. They

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<v Speaker 3>always voted, They cared much more at the Green Bay

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<v Speaker 3>Packers than they did in politics. But for me, it

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<v Speaker 3>was just always something that was intrinsic. I remember, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>in elementary school, we would have to do biographies on someone,

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<v Speaker 3>and I chose John F. Kennedy right then and there.

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<v Speaker 3>And there was just something I fell in love with

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<v Speaker 3>with his idea of service to the party, service to

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<v Speaker 3>the country. And that's how I got involved, because I

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<v Speaker 3>really thought party activism was a way to create change

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<v Speaker 3>in my community.

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<v Speaker 1>So when you said to your parents, Hey, mom, dad,

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<v Speaker 1>can you drop me off at this Democratic Party meeting?

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<v Speaker 2>How did that go?

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<v Speaker 3>I actually wrote my bike to most of them.

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<v Speaker 2>Actually, that's even better. I don't know why that's better,

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<v Speaker 2>but that's even better. They just trusted me.

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<v Speaker 3>I knew a couple of local elected officials who'd invited

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<v Speaker 3>me to the meetings and just got to show up.

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<v Speaker 3>And here I was a fifteen sixteen year old going

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<v Speaker 3>to county party meetings, county party vice chair before I

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<v Speaker 3>could ever vote, and elected to the DNC before I'm

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<v Speaker 3>a graduated high school.

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<v Speaker 2>Well you are.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we're now twenty years on. This is your sixth convention.

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<v Speaker 1>What in all the conventions you've been to give me

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<v Speaker 1>some takeaways that you see from this convention versus the

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<v Speaker 1>other ones.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, it's really hard. I've been thinking about that

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<v Speaker 3>as we are preparing to kick off night two here.

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<v Speaker 3>And each convention really does have its own unique feel too.

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<v Speaker 3>I think my first one was two thousand and four

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<v Speaker 3>in Boston where Barack Obama was the keynote speaker. So right, yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>see yeah, and that was a really special moment, you know.

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<v Speaker 3>Here I was a young kid, had always had been

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<v Speaker 3>interested in politics, being at a national convention for the

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<v Speaker 3>first time for me, This one is going to be

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<v Speaker 3>a really special one tonight when we do the roll

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<v Speaker 3>call and as I went on stage on Sunday to

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<v Speaker 3>practice a little bit of that. There was just a

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<v Speaker 3>special moment for me there of being you know, a

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<v Speaker 3>kid a group and ruled northern Wisconsin who just wanted

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<v Speaker 3>to get involved in politics to make a difference and

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<v Speaker 3>to be a national party officer and getting to participate

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<v Speaker 3>in an historic event tonight.

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<v Speaker 1>I haven't even mentioned the fact that you are the

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<v Speaker 1>secretary of the DNC and as such you will be

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<v Speaker 1>actually executing the role call, though this is a symbolic

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<v Speaker 1>role call, because you guys already wrap that up.

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<v Speaker 3>We had to vote early because of some ballot access

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<v Speaker 3>laws in Ohio, so we did a virtual role call

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<v Speaker 3>vote back to the beginning of August to officially certify

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<v Speaker 3>Kamala Harrison Tim Walls as our nominee. So tonight's really

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<v Speaker 3>are a reaffirmation of that, and really the real purpose

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<v Speaker 3>of it is the purpose of convention is to really

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<v Speaker 3>come together as a party, for delegates to celebrate, to unify,

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<v Speaker 3>and we wanted to make sure that those delegates who

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<v Speaker 3>are ran and caucuses and conventions in their.

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<v Speaker 2>Home states got to be a part of it.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, they fill up their ballot online, they send

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<v Speaker 3>it in but we really wanted to be able to

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<v Speaker 3>come together and unify the country and go state by

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<v Speaker 3>state through all fifty seven states and territories tonight to

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<v Speaker 3>really celebrate that moment.

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<v Speaker 2>I was talking about that on the air.

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<v Speaker 1>We also cover the RNC, and just like the DNC,

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<v Speaker 1>the RNC and the DNC, they are the roots of

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<v Speaker 1>the political parties. These are people who live, breathe, and

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<v Speaker 1>just live for democratic national politics or democratic politics. And

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<v Speaker 1>when you get them all together in a room like this,

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<v Speaker 1>what kind.

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<v Speaker 2>Of things do you guys see.

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<v Speaker 1>When you look across the entire group of delegates that

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<v Speaker 1>are out on the floor. What do you feel when

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<v Speaker 1>you look out there at all of your fellow Democratic

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<v Speaker 1>I thanks for me.

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<v Speaker 3>When I look at it, I see America out there.

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<v Speaker 3>My office is responsible for helping certify all of our

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<v Speaker 3>convention participants. So we've been working the last several months

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<v Speaker 3>to get demographic information on folks. And you know, near

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<v Speaker 3>fifty percent our first time convention delegates to this convention.

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<v Speaker 1>That's really actually very impressive because there's a lot of return.

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<v Speaker 2>There is.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and when you look out though, you see America.

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<v Speaker 3>You see people who this is their first or people

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<v Speaker 3>who've been coming for eight ten conventions already, you see

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<v Speaker 3>the wide array that really makes up the Democratic Party.

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<v Speaker 3>And I think that was actually one of my proudest

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<v Speaker 3>mom once last night, when we as officers were sitting

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<v Speaker 3>up on stage watching the speeches and just looking out

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<v Speaker 3>at the crowd and saying, this is America. Here the

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<v Speaker 3>Democratic Party represents America.

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<v Speaker 2>You are thirty seven years old.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you feel like this convention maybe more than prior conventions,

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<v Speaker 1>we're seeing a generational shift.

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<v Speaker 3>I think we saw it last night with President Biden

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<v Speaker 3>really passing the torch to the next generation. I think

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<v Speaker 3>we're seeing that through convention, and I think it'll be

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<v Speaker 3>a theme we heard last night. We were able to

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<v Speaker 3>celebrate his leadership and commitment to the party for five decades,

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<v Speaker 3>and I think as we continue now the next three nights,

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<v Speaker 3>we will talk about what this new generation of leaders

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<v Speaker 3>looks like. I think it's also the reason we looked

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<v Speaker 3>at speakers last night. We had some great folks early on,

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<v Speaker 3>lieutenant governors for example, who were up and rising stars

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<v Speaker 3>within the party, and I think we'll continue to see

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<v Speaker 3>folks like that take the stage over the next three nights.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, I'm gonna ask you this, and I don't expect

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<v Speaker 1>you to answer the question because you are in politics.

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<v Speaker 1>Who do you thought? Who did you think last night?

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<v Speaker 1>Let's take Joe Biden out of it. We're just gonna

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<v Speaker 1>take him off. Who did you think really crushed it

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<v Speaker 1>last night? We have too that we thought crushed it

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<v Speaker 1>last night.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh it's really hard. I can't. I can't answer that.

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<v Speaker 1>Was like, hey, okay, actually, what if you knew someone

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<v Speaker 1>who would have an opinion, what would that opinion be.

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<v Speaker 3>One of those that I thought did a fantastic job

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<v Speaker 3>was Ashley Biden. Actually introducing her father was just a

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<v Speaker 3>really moving, touching moment, and I think everyone in the

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<v Speaker 3>hall could see that for them, and I think it

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<v Speaker 3>was a culmination of celebrating his five decades of service

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<v Speaker 3>to the party and when you're the leader of the

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<v Speaker 3>free world like that, your family has to take sacrifices,

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<v Speaker 3>and hearing from the family and getting to celebrate them

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<v Speaker 3>as well, I think was really an important moment.

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<v Speaker 1>I gotta say, I thought Hillary gave the best speech

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<v Speaker 1>of her life last night.

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<v Speaker 3>She was fantastic.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I really thought that was the best she's

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<v Speaker 1>ever been. She was really and odd that she's not

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<v Speaker 1>campaigning for herself, She's just throwing it out there. And

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<v Speaker 1>I just thought it was a really good speech by

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<v Speaker 1>her last night.

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<v Speaker 3>She did really, really well and I brought the house down.

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<v Speaker 2>How do you decide?

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<v Speaker 1>And I don't know how intimately you are involved as

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<v Speaker 1>the secretary of the DNC with the planning, but.

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<v Speaker 2>How do you guys decide what night people speak on?

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<v Speaker 3>You know, there's a whole team that has focused on

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<v Speaker 3>that to figure out what the messaging is for each

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<v Speaker 3>day and how do speakers fit into that. But really

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<v Speaker 3>also then ensuring that we have the diversity of our

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<v Speaker 3>party represented on stage. We not only want the diversity

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<v Speaker 3>in our delegates and those who are coming to participating convention,

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<v Speaker 3>we want the speakers to reflect that so that as

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<v Speaker 3>folks are sitting at home, they can see themselves. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>for me, as a young young gay kid growing up

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<v Speaker 3>in Ryal, Wisconsin, trying to find those out elected leaders

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<v Speaker 3>like Tammy Baldwin who could take the stage and speak

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<v Speaker 3>and I could say, well, that could be me up

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<v Speaker 3>there someday. So that's I think one of our goals

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<v Speaker 3>we identify those speakers is to say who can inspire

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<v Speaker 3>folks to be active, engage and participate in the process.

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<v Speaker 1>So should we expect to see candidate Jason Ray at

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<v Speaker 1>some point in the future out of Wisconsin.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, I love what I'm doing for the party

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<v Speaker 3>right now. This is I feel like the best way

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<v Speaker 3>I can give back is to elect great candidates who

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<v Speaker 3>are going to fight for my values.

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<v Speaker 2>Jason Ray, it's a joy to talk to you.

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<v Speaker 1>And although I think you're insane for spending your entire

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<v Speaker 1>life in the political process, I do admire your gumption

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<v Speaker 1>and forgetting I just can't even imagine being a seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>year old and writing my back to a political party meeting,

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<v Speaker 1>So part.

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<v Speaker 2>Of me thinks you're a little crazy.

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<v Speaker 3>I think in politics is probably a little bit special here.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well, congratulations. We look forward to seeing you do

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<v Speaker 1>the role. Call tonight and thank you for making time

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<v Speaker 1>for us.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks so much. All right, that's Jason Ray.

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<v Speaker 1>He is the secretary of the Democratic National Convention.