The Texas Tribune produced a two-day event at the ACL Moody Theater centered called “Conversations About America’s Future.” An event dedicated to talking with politicians about the current and future political climate. From Senator and democratic presidential candidate, Elizabeth Warren to House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy. The political conversations came to a culmination on Sunday evening with three back to back town halls broadcasted live on CNN featuring Representative John Delaney, Representative Tulsi Gabbard, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Kicking off the sessions on Saturday, March 9^th was the senator from Minnesota and democratic presidential candidate, Amy Klobuchar. Klobuchar was interviewed by tech writer and Editor-at-large for Recode, Kara Swisher. With true Klobuchar humor, she lightened the mood with Swisher but remarking, “if I can survive a blizzard, I can survive this interview.” The interview kicked off with a question about her eating a salad with a comb, but Klobuchar steers the conversation back to why she is here and its due to the stakes being too high in the current political climate and said “that’s why I announced in a middle of a blizzard by the Mississippi river.” Not even a snowstorm can stop her from making this run for the Democratic party’s nomination.

The interview continued with questions surrounding the number of candidates in the 2020 Democratic Party primary race and Klobuchar commented on how competition is good. She added she was a co-sponsor on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal and that she does not commit to Elizabeth Warren’s recent announcement on breaking up tech companies. Klobuchar’s main stance on tech is privacy and re-opening investigations into companies like Google’s dominance. Klobuchar then talked about our justice system, “you can’t have two systems of justice, one for the rich and powerful and one for everyone else.”

After the interview concluded, Klobuchar took a few photos and met with people off stage. See below for a quick interview about how she plans to win the vote in Texas. As she jokingly said earlier, “may the best woman win.”

Going from a Moderate Democrat to a Moderate Republican, former governor of Ohio and 2016 Republican Party primary presidential candidate, John Kasich joined the stage with author, David Maraniss. Kasich jumped right into an impassioned, hour-long conversation about a variety of topics and where he thinks the future of America is headed. “I like change, you get criticized for it but who cares.” One of Kasich’s more passionate moments was the need to create change from the bottom up, not the top down. He compared this to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and how he created change not because of President Kennedy’s endorsement.

Kasich is one of the few Republican anti-supporters of the current president, he talked about how he was not giving up on his party though but admitted it has a ways to go. He sees the future of the Republican Party addressing important issues like climate change and income inequality. He talked about the issue of Medicare and the longer we wait to fix it, the worse it will get. He also addressed special interest groups with a direct albeit humorous tone.

Kasich went on to talk about comprehensive immigration laws and about how everyone is our neighbor, regardless of their country. He addressed why so many politicians in his party are scared to stand up to the current president and it’s due to their fear of losing primaries. Kasich, “you have to think about them as other human beings, they don’t want to lose their job.” The question came up if he was running for president in 2020, and Kasich admitted he’s not ruling it out or throwing a Hail Mary just yet, but he would only run if he thought he could win.

After his interview concluded, a larger crowd formed, and Kasich answered a quick question, which referenced a very important moment in his session.

After the two sessions with Klobuchar and Kasich, it seems the future of America is focused. There are issues to address and conversations that need to be continued. From tech companies to immigration to the Mueller investigation. Regardless of party politics or where people stand on these issues, everyone is focused right now on the America they want for their grandchildren.