not right. >> the number one issue that concerns me is the lack of civility in our politics. i always say that we are ohioans and americans before we're democrats and republicans, and it's time to start bridging the gap and bringing our country back together. and i know that our candidate, kamala harris, is going to do that for our country. >> one of the most important issues when it comes to this year's election is probably gun control. as an incoming high school student,. [inaudible] what's happening in our schools. that's why i'm counting on kamala harris and the democrat party to make sure we have an assault weapons ban -- [inaudible] >> c-span's voices 2024, be a part of the conversation. ♪ >> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since1979 we've been your primary if source for capitol

hill, providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government taking you to where the policies are debated and decided all with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting. powered by cable. >> host: -- chicago courtesy of prove, the location for our studio while c-span covers the democratic national convention this week. we thank them for allowing us access to the building in order to do that. and joining us from the location, former senator he'dty heitkamp, democrat from north dakota, who served from 2013-2019. the founder of the one country project. from chicago, thank you so much for giving us your time. >> guest: thank you so much for having me on and focus a little bit on what's happening politically in rural america. really appreciate it. >> host: when you say that, what role do they play year? can -- this year? >> guest: well, huge. i mean, you've had me on before, and i tell the same thing over and over again.

if democrats could learn to do 5% in rural america across the board, they wouldn't have any if trouble winning pennsylvania. they wouldn't have any trouble in michigan or we've or even iowa and indiana, north carolina. and so, you know, the rural america really doesn't, it votes more like a voting bloc right now. it's pretty red. but it doesn't have to be. and so at the one country project, we do a lot of work kind of exposing what those rural issues are, exposing maybe what a some solutions could be that you could talk about. now, do we think we're going to win back rural america in, you know, onene or two cycles? no. we didn't lose it in one or two cyclings. and so what we're trying to do is really, as i always say, introduce the democratic party to rural america and rural america to the democratic pear's priorities. >> host: do you think that for this cycle though the selection of the minnesota governor, tim walz, is a step forward in that direction in winning back the

rural democrats and rural voters? >> guest: absolutely. it's, it's escaped no one's notice that i'map a huge item wz fan. he's our next door neighbor in minnesota -- i'm from north dakota. he's our next door neighbor and governor in minnesota. he's just as comfortable coming into minnesota -- or coming into north dakota talking aboutne issues that affect us on the border. and so tim walz is of rural america. you know, it's interesting because i think in some ways with the selection of j.d. vance, i think that was a nod mt. republican party -- in the republican party to someone who grew up in a rural part of the country who maybe could persuade people to vote. but everybodyay forgot that j.d. vance left rural america when he was 18 to go off to college. and guess what? tim the walz has lived in rural america -- tim walz has lived in rural america his entire life. people who say, oh, he's a west

coast liberal, his first trip to the francisco was just a couple weeks ago. we know tim. we know that he knows rural america. and so when rural america says the democratic party doesn't even see us, they don't know us, you say, wait a minute, you have someone who could be in the white house who knows exactly what these rural issues are, knows exactly what rural communities need, understands the need for infrastructure, better housing, the challenges of delivering health care, and he also knows we need a farm bill. and so i'm very excited, and i believe that tim can be that difference and that margin if he can persuade even 5% of rural differently.te ime think kamala harris and tim walz will be in the white house come january. >> host: senator, you're probably familiar with the work of the washington examiner's salena zito. she wrote this recently, she

started with saying nbc news' steve -- pointed out last week that the calculation is that walz had real style and reliability, and therefore, he wisconsin, pennsylvania andn michigan, there's big catch. walz wasn' that today that in his own state in short, the elite version of who they think -- he ran up the numbers in metropolitan areas not because he had a tangible and authentic connection with the voters democrats want to win. how would you respond to that? >> >> guest: well, just watch him. watch him at a state fair. watch him, you know, shake hands atyo a farm meeting. just watch him. you know, she's right, he's not going to persuade, you know, the the vast majority of rural america to switch. but there are so many people sitting onar the fence in rural america right now who don't see any candidacy that will affect their lives. they don't see a candidate that looks like them. those are the voters that we hope tim walz can persuade.

and so i think, i think they're being overly pessimistic about his appeal. i think that he will generate a lot of enthusiasm. you saw that in nebraska. you know, he went to a rural part of nebraska, true a mammot. why is that? all of a sudden on the national stage people who i grew up in places like i did, a town of 90 people, say i know that guy. i mean, i may not always agree with him, but he was like every high school teacher i had had a, every coach i had. he was the guy that you would call if you had a flat tire and needed help, your mom needed help shoveling a sidewalk in a snowstorm. he was that a guy. and so character continues. not just issues. and the other thing i find, you know, a little disturbing maybe or per if turning -- perturbing is when they talk about these issues and they say, oh, look at these liberal issues like paid family leave, like daycare, like housing, you know, what -- these

are just big liberal ideas. guess what? in rural america we are disproportionately unable the take time off for -- to raise a child, you know, to have, you know, some teem with our kids when they're -- some time with our kids when they're first born. we're disproportionately able to the take time off to take care of a sick parent. we have toof quit our jobs. and a system that provides that kind of support, a system that recognizesat the challenges of providing daycare, the challenges of delivering rural health care, i think that those aren't liberal everybody shoes, those are just family-friendly issues, and i think once he starts talking about them, there'll be a lot of people persuaded. >> host: this is heidi heitkamp of the one country project, democratic senator from north dakota frompr 2013-2019. 2022-748-80001 for republicans, 20 the-748-800 for democrats and

independents, 80002. if you want to text us those questions, do that at 202-748-800003. so, senator heitkamp, going forward, what's the specific message that the vice president should be delivering to rural voters? if you talked about an economic plan if earlier, where should she go from there? >> guest: well, i think that the vice president needs to send tim walz on a bus going from every -- to every county fair, going to the state fairs in our battleground states of michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin. he talks like he's from wisconsin, so -- and they know him pretty well over there because he's, comes from a border state. and so i think that we won't see those two together that much after this convention is over. i think that makes great sense, and i think he also can be very persuaded or very persuasive in states likee arizona, rural arizona,al rural georgia, north

carolina, some states that she's opened up now with her new candidacy. and so, you know, tim walz is a unique talent. and he'ss a unique politician in a lot of ways because what you see is what you get. and i think that's what we're going to see tonight. he is who he is, and that authenticity which frequently is missing in a lot of politicians, i think that he just exudes that authenticity, exudes -- i like to say you know what? tim walz knows how to get in and out of a fishing boat. he likes to -- he knows how to walk the corn row. he's one of us. >> host: you're close to him. has he talked to you about the speech tonight or maybe the themes he's going to talk about? >> guest: you know, tim called me when it was clear that he was in consideration for vice president and asked me if i would, you know, speak a few words for him, talk about the work that he's done, talk about, you know, who he is.

i said i would love to. i did a lot of interviews and, you know, when he was announced i thought that guy's really busy, i'll catch up with him later. i'm surem that, you know, tim s kind of like me. de-- he doesn't like reading off a speech, so we'll see how that works forec him. he tenically just gets up there and -- typically just gets up there and speaks from his heart. it won't be -- i shouldn't diss him like this. it won't be eloquent like barack obama's was. look for more like the first gentleman, doug. it'll be more like that speech, i think, tonight. telling his story and his priorities. >> host: let's take some calls. james in virginia, republican line. go ahead. >> caller: senator heitkamp, good morning. you said it right when you said about a walz going and meeting the crowd and shaking hands. you know, rural folks are that way. i live in a a rural county, you know? we don't care if you're democrat

or republican, but when we turn on the news and we see baltimore if or d.c. and the crime and all a, we don't want that. that's why you're not -- [inaudible] walz i in rural areas. we like -- we don't care if you're gay or straight, we don't. we justnt want to be left alone. we want to do our job. [laughter] we want to say good morning to our neighbors. the last chair we voted for, it was democrat -- [inaudible] i voted for him, campaigned for him as i got a trump flag in my front yard. i didn't care if he was a democrat, i liked him. it didn't change my party affiliation, i still voted for trump. we don't want -- >> guest: yeah. >> caller: -- the chaos that we see on the tv from chicago, san francisco. driving around rural neighbors, it's clean -- neighborhoods, it's clean. you go mt. store, no wokeness.

a lady says good morning, honey. you don't care about all this craziness in thehe world -- >> host: got your point, james, from lancaster, virginia. senatorgi heitkamp, imld. >> guest: well, i mean, he's absolutely right. and it's that voter, what you hear from him, that i think tim walz will appeal to. the one thing that that i would say is, and this is more from a political pundit standpoint, the split if ticket voter, somebody who would vote for trump and then vote down ballot and vote for a democrat for senate, when i ran in 2012 i was able to do 2 points better than -- 22 points better than barack obama. barack obama lost north dakota by 222 points, and i still won the senate seat because romney voters were willing to cross over and vote for me, and a lot of those voters were in rural north dakota. that has changed as our politics has become more nationalized, and that's the trend that we're trying to fight. i'm not trying to tell people how tory vote. i'm trying to tell people look,

you know, make sure that you have a choice. because when rural america becomes a voting bloc for just one political party, it will not get the attention that it deserves. and, you know, a great example right now is we don't have a farm if bill. this -- we're two years into an extension pretty much of the old farm bill. we need that certainty. we're not getting that out of washington. who can deliver it? andt that's a question we shoud be asking, not what is your political party or political affiliation, but what are you going to do. and don't talk nonsense. and i agree with him, i think a lot of the reason why democrats have lost rural america is this idea that you can't say good morning, honey, or hi, dear. i mean, you know, the kind of hypersensitivity and political correctnd, that's not who we are. -- correctness. and we, as i like to say, give each other grace. we don't assume the worst of each a other when someone says something that might arguably be offensive. we just go, oh, a that's not how

i look at it. so i i think that's who tim walz is. i don't think tim walz is anything other than what a you're going to see tonight and what you're going to see on the campaign trail. >> host: dallas, texas, democrats' line. this is faye faye. >> caller: good morning. i have to agree with miss heidi and with the other caller. i live in texas, and we have a lot of rural areas. and so a lot of people are not going out communicating with them. i have friends republican, democrat and independent, black, white, hispanic, and they're in the rural area as a well. and they get along, just one big, happy family. they're not concerned with what party, but they're concerned with, as she mentioned, a farm bill and things like that. and i think people need to focus on trying to be for all people whether you're rural, black, straight the, gay or whoever because that's what we want in a president, w someone who can une us, who can fight for us and who of us.p all and i refuse to fall out with my

neighbors who are republican or independent if other politics, but i do believe they need to go out to the rural areas because they are often a forgotten about just like the low income areas all over the united states. thank you for taking my call this morning. >> host: and, senator heitkamp, i'll go on that last point when she says they'reas a forgotten bloc. i'm expanding her words a little bit, but would you agree with that? >> guest: absolutely. i thinkable that, you know, in north dakota part of our rural makeup, the entire state with the exception of probably a couple urban areas, is pretty rural. 7, 8 of our population is native americans -- 7-8%. they live in some of the most rural places. this idea that rural america looks a certain way is absolutely wrong. and i want to make this point and i used to talk about this when i was in the senate, you know, and not trying to the say rural america's better or worse than anyny other part of the country, but i said, look, you know, in every coffee shop many if rural america, guys sit

around thel table -- usually guys. sometimesar they invite, you kn, one of the wives to come many, and and they talk about politics. and they argue. and then they sit around the table and they figure out, oh, we need to get the christmas decorations up on main street. we need to fix the church roof. we needth to, you know, figure t how we're going to get new uniforms for the football team. they figure out how to involve their -- solve theirto problems working together, and they don't put these and ours on their forehead. they put, you know, community on their forehead. so, you know, i can't -- that's the value that we need again in this country. we can disagree about what we do with policy, but we have got to start uniting ourselves in commonit cause towards improving the lives of americans, making us one country which is why, you know, it's interesting because i get some questions on why i named my project one country project. and i said because that's what we are. you know, what rural america wants, good health care, good education, an opportunity for

their kids to do better than they are, you know, safety, protection. what rural merck wants, yes -- america wants, yes, that's what urban america wants. and the politicians have somehow figured out how to divide us urban, rural when our goals are the same. not always the same solutions. it's a little tougher to get the ambulance out in five minutes in rural america, but they want the same things for their family. let's unite as americans and quit dividing based on any factors but especially for me urban-rural. enter you highlighted earlier about h the challenges that the harris-walz team is going to have. if you take a look at the 2020 campaign, pew tells us that amongst rural voters 65% of those voted for former president trump versus president biden, 33%. how much do you think those numbers might change this time around? >> well, i'm hoping they'll change. if we can just do 60-40, that

will be a lot of votes across the country for the democratic ticket. and that's doable. the other thing i'd say is, you know, that when i'm in rural america, and i i will tell you this, i've traveled all around in the last couple months, and when i did that in '16 and when i did it in '20, i would walk into audiences where, in rural america where about a third of the folks were wearing red a hats. and you know what i mean when i that. i was just in rural minnesota, didn't see -- i think i saw two or three people in a crowd of probably about 5,000. so erik you know, things -- so, you know, things have changed a little bit. i think people are more open to listening to an alternative,pe d those swing voters in rural america, the democratic voters in rural america who felt like their vote doesn't matter, i think that they will be enthusiastically supporting tim walzth and kamala harris. and you saw that in nebraska. i mean, turning out a crowd like

that in rural nebraska, i think that wasik a signal that's what we're going to be doing. we aren't going to take anything for granted. maybe it doesn't work out, but we've got to the start somewhere. and i think with the selection of tim walz, it's a message that we hear you. there's going to be someone sitting at the table of power in washington, d.c. that is, that comes from our life experience. whether that's hunting and fishing, whether that's a schoolteacher in a rural community or, whether that is somebody who served 24 years in the national guard who understands the needs of the men and women that the he commanded. iha mean, it's just a really compelling story, i think, and at least it's an introduction of a democratic accurate and an opportunity to reintroduce the democratic party in rural america. >> host: senator heidi heitkamp joining us, served in the senate from 202013-2019, the founder of the one country project. kiva, republican line from new

jersey, you're next up. hello. a akiva in new jersey, hello. okay. let's hear from if earl. earl in idaho, independent line. >> caller: morning. heidi -- >> guest: morning. yeah. >> caller: i run a, i've got a small family farm here, and i operate it. it's a struggle to invest more moneyy into it when we've got a country that is skating on-in ice -- on thin ice because of the deficit we're in. it's hard to get up every morning and go to work and invest in our rural community. >> host: that's earl there in idaho. >> guest: yeah. and these are the struggles that we should be listening to. you know, what it is like to, you know, a pay a lot of money

for gas when you have to drive 30, 40 miles to go to work every day. and i know urban america will say, well, i commute and it costs me money too. but you have alternatives. and so, you know, i've been talking a lot here at the democratic convention we have a rural caucus, and, you know, when i'veau done in the last the cycles -- this the last three cycles, it's pretty sparse in there. the room was backed -- packed yesterday with rural democrats who are ready to go to work, listen to challenges and provide an opportunity and solutions. and they aren't all going to be the same solutions that you need for urban america. we're going to have to figure out how we help make our kids stay in rural america so that we can be, you know, so that we can see a future because if you don't have young people, you don't have a future. and, you know, it was

interesting, you know, one thing that i've been talking about here is access to rural health care. if you are a pregnant woman, in parts of north dakota in order to deliver a baby, you're going to have to drive a hundred mile toss to a hospital that will deliver. and a lot of our critical access hospitals in north dakota no longer provide delivery care. i mean, these are the things that are happening in rural americags that will spiral our opportunity to grow rural america and make rural america part of the kind of economic recovery thatam it needs to be o have a healthy america. and so, you know, these aren't, these aren't democrat solutions, they're not republican solutions. we need to figure out what those challenges are. one of the questions that i got yesterday was on emergency medical services. if you're in rural america, probably across the country concern certainly true in north dakota -- and the rural ambulance comes, it's going to be staff thed with volunteers. those volunteers are aging, and they aren't getting replaced by

younger people. so are you going to wait, you know, an hour for an ambulance to drive from fargo to, you know, when you're having a heart attack or are we going to figure out some way to make sure that your health care is provided in rural america? these are challenges that tim was with knows very -- tim walz knows very well. kamala,, i've known her since se was the alternative general of california. i mean -- the attorney general of california. they're always curious about what's happening and what needs to change. so i think making sure those voices are bipartisan for rural america, i think, are going to be critical. >> host: when it comes to the topic of reproductive rights, how do you think that plays out for the average voter in rural america? >> guest: yeah. when i look at what for many voters that we've lost over the last 20 years, a lot of it has been because they've turned into single-issue voters.

they are, you know, more, for lack of a better word, more pro-life. and so they, you know, i used to vote democrat. this issue i really care about a, i'm going to vote republican because republicans want to eliminate abortion in ourd country. that's fine, and that has been part of the fabric of the transition in earlier america. but one thing that all of these ballotot measures have taught us is there is a lot of pro-choice voters in rural america who weren't voting on that issue because that right was guaranteed by roe. and so now when the pro-choice voters hear that this could be taken away, we see things like what happened in kansas. it wasn't the w majority in rurl america, but people were shocked that the ballot measure in kansas did as a well in rural kansas as what it did. so there's a lot of folks in rural america who are deeply

concernedrn about reproductive rights. you've seen in idaho -- don't mean to pick on idaho, but a lot of ob/gyn ifs leaving the state or not wanting to practice in idaho because they don't believe that they can provide quality health care. and the other thing that you're finding out, i think, with all the stories that are coming out, that this is an incredibly complicated, personal, private issues -- issue and that's when people say mind your own darn business -- not exactly the language that's used -- that speaks to the those voters who don't want people telling them what to do. and that's the independent streak of the rural voter that i think the harris-walz ticket will appeal to. >> host: here is malcolm in florida. democrats' line forll our quest. go ahead. >> caller: yes. i agree with heidi. i'm so sorry -- one of those people that was mentioned when they talked about --

[inaudible] but i don't think the country would vote for two ladies and women are the smartest of the two species, of the two -- [inaudible] men and women. i do think though that talking about the vice president, mr. walz, i think he is terrific. i can relate to him because i grew up in rural indiana -- [laughter] and that's the kind of coach we had at our school too. and i really appreciated it. i hope they do well because the trump and j.d. vance, waiting for him to die so he can be president, man, it's going to really bera crazy, i tell you. it will bee crazy. thank you. >> guest: yeah. well,i could just mention that i think it's interesting because now that walz is the candidate, once again you have to file a financial disclosure, and these are available to anyone. and so people have been putting his financial december closure which is -- disclosure, which if people i grew upop with, right? they maybe have a pension from

teaching school, they have a 401(k) k, putting away some money for retirement. but they don't have a lot of assets. and you put that next to j.d. vance who literally if you believe as i do that he was selected because he has big friends, big republican donor friends in silicon valley, he's a venture capitalist. and so, you know, i think just put 'em side by side. here's a guy who spent his whole life many in service, tim walz. he didn't make a lot of money, but yet he made a living. and heon made his community betr because he taught, i because he coached, because he served in the national guard. again, somebody who once they got out of school went and, went the other direction. i'm not criticizing that, i'm just saying there is a clear distinction between these two people. and i read a story where people were criticizing him because, walz, because he didn't own any

stock.k. and i'm, like, what do you think america is? ink mean, do you think that americans all have huge portfoliost like j.d. vance? they do not. they worry about whether they're going to have retirement security every day. it's one of the biggest worries especially for aging millennials, will i be able to afford to retire. and when i think -- i think when youou look at somebody who's knn that fear, who who's lived that a fear, i think that's who tim walz is. >> host: in new york, this is republican line, charlotte. hello. >> caller: hi, good morning. thank you forll your service, wt you're doing. but i have a concern about the joke about rural, right? i have a concern about the the inner city development, that the it seems that, okay, we have an election year. everybody goes out. they do this, they do that.

millions of dollars to get the vote and they walk away and nothing changes. they go in, they get the vote, theyan walk away. the kids still get what they need, seniors don't get what they need -- the can kids don't get what they need, seniors don't get what they need. they get thege vote, they turn around a, they walk back. see ya with, another four years. hi, how you doing? see ya. [laughter] so what when is it going to really happen that people are going to be recognized in lower income? i appreciate the rural and i appreciate what you're doing, but my concern is the inner city, but they're not being taken care of. and the homeless on the streets and the immigrants that are compounding and compounding. you know, billions of dollars for elections. wouldn't that be better spent taking care of our citizens?

>> host: okay. charlotte in new york, thank you. >> guest: yeah. i mean, she is speaking the frustration of huge numbers of americans. when you say america, you know, i s was doing a thing and i ran into a guy who was soliciting votes for a ballot measure in australia, i was in a houston office building, and i'm, like, what are you doing sneer if he said, well -- here? well, we have the consulate here in this building. and in australia, everybody has to to vote for how get fined, right? well, i don't think we should go to that, but i think poll stickses -- politicians should understand exactly what she's saying which is this can't be a two year, every two year, every four year discussion. this has to be an ongoing dialogue,, and there has to be proven results. and one of the reasons why peoplee don't vote is they dont hi it matters. and it has to start mattering. now, i will say there are things that i could point to that made a huge difference especially in

rural america, but all across the country they weren't popular when they were done. the affordable care act, otherwise known as obamacare -- they don't call it that anymore because it's a little more popular than it was when it was rolled out, but i can tell you i know farm families who paid 15000 a month for health insurance on the open market, but because of the exchanges that were created by obamacare and because of the help that they're getting to support those execs changes, their health care insurance costs right now are at, like, 300 a month. that's huge for lower class or a lower income family in rural america. that's the true in urban america as well. i think -- but i think she makes such an excellent point which is this can't be -- if we aren't, if we're going the unite the country and not be cynical about our politics and bring people back to our democracy as voters, it needs to matter. and when it seems like it only

matters every two years or four years, guessss what? that's not a formula la for sustaining our democracy. i'm at the institute of politics here in chicago working with young people to encourage them to participate in this system. we just did a poll, and when you look at -- i ask them, do you believe that democracy is delivering for you, the majority of young people say no. and they're saying no because of what this woman is saying. hay don't think that people really listen. they think that it's a self-serving system for politicians themselvesns and tht die -- dying log needs to be more honest. we need to be more honest about what government can do and can't do. people that know me know i'm a deficit hawk. i think that we have got to get our country back on track with debt and deficit. we aren't realistic about that, and to me, that's a conservative value, that's a rural value. you pay your bills and you don't