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.