Visiting MLK
In 2020 I had the privilege of visiting the King Center in Atlanta with Dr. King’s son, Martin Luther King III. Martin and I became friends during my presidential campaign; his father had been a champion of universal basic income before he was assassinated in 1968.
Hello, I hope that you’re having a wonderful holiday weekend! It was my birthday on Friday so I had a nice dinner with family and friends.
This weekend we also celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday and legacy. In 2020 I had the privilege of visiting the King Center in Atlanta with Dr. King’s son, Martin Luther King III. Martin and I became friends during my presidential campaign; his father had been a champion of universal basic income before he was assassinated in 1968.
Dr. King’s childhood home is located a couple blocks from the King Center in Atlanta on a pleasant residential street. Martin brought me and Evelyn around the house – it is preserved so that one gets a sense of family life in that time. “Dad used to say that the view from the front stoop – the poor houses on the left and the rich houses on the right – gave him a sense early on that change was needed.”
Like most Americans, I grew up watching the black and white videos of Martin Luther King’s historic “I have a dream” speech, and watched it again in a US History course I took in college. I also remember when MLK Day became a federal holiday in 1986 – I was eleven years old and it was a big deal. To hear Martin relate his own childhood memories of his father in their family home was something I will never forget.
We walked down the street to visit the King Center directly afterwards. There’s a beautiful pool of water where Dr. King and his wife are interred. “This Center is really Mom’s vision come to life more than anyone else,” Martin said. Quotes from Dr. King’s speeches are included along the sides, including his call to address the 3 great Evils: Racism, Poverty and War.
If you ask most people what Dr. King stood for, they would likely say “a land where people are judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.” But Dr. King had taken to campaigning against not just racism but poverty in his later years – he even explicitly said that poor blacks and poor whites should make common cause to improve their circumstances in his final book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” In that book, he wrote,
“A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look at thousands of working people displaced from their jobs with reduced incomes as a result of automation while the profits of the employers remain intact, and say: ‘This is not just.’ . . . Let us be those creative dissenters who will call our beloved nation to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness.”
Dr. King was assassinated 55 years ago, yet his words read as if they could have been written today. Is America any closer to becoming the “beloved community” today?
This year on Dr. King’s birthday, let’s think bigger about what building a beloved community would mean in our own time, and consider how to address poverty in the age of AI. And if you ever have the chance to visit MLK’s resting place in Atlanta, take the opportunity – you’ll be glad you did.
Want to help America head down a better path? Check out Forward today.
A Rocky Start
The new Congress is off to a rocky start, as Kevin McCarthy went through 14 unsuccessful votes to eventually claim the Speaker’s mantle.
Hello, I hope that 2023 is going great for you thus far! My kids have been sick so there’s been more family time than usual.
The new Congress is off to a rocky start, as Kevin McCarthy went through 14 unsuccessful votes to eventually claim the Speaker’s mantle. You can’t understate how bad this is; 20 Republicans refused to back him, resulting in a leaderless environment and hundreds of members reduced to futile voting for days on end. It’s a vivid picture of a divided country that struggles with basic tasks like organizing itself.
It’s also a direct outgrowth of our rigid two-party system – in other democracies different groups come together to settle on leadership decisions. “Coalition governing is used in virtually all other leading western democracies” is how David Jolly put it. Here, you would hope that moderate Republicans and Democrats might come together and settle on a compromise. But no one wants to cross party lines.
Said Mark Cuban: “Is there a better commercial for Ranked Choice Voting than what is going on with the Speaker’s vote in the House? The current system, from primary to general to speaker voting, empowers the extremists at the expense of constituents. Time to change.” He’s right on all counts.
McCarthy managed to eke out a win by conceding the store and giving himself some future problems. It bodes poorly for the legislative environment for the next 2 years as one can easily imagine 6 recalcitrant Republicans holding up meaningful legislation and Dems not wanting to lend any assistance.
This week on the podcast I interview Eric Liu, the founder and CEO of Citizen University. Eric is the author of numerous books, including most recently “Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility and Democracy.” He spent years in Democratic politics as a speechwriter for Bill Clinton and an Obama appointee. Citizen University is about empowering citizens to take charge of what is happening in their community through greater engagement – very aligned with Forward. Among its programs are Civic Saturdays, which gather people together to reflect on what they can to do better their community.
Civic Saturdays take the form of a traditional religious gathering: people stand and sing, read from different works, bring pocket Constitutions, and are led by a sermon. Citizen University has trained hundreds of people in its civic seminary to lead local gatherings.
I thought this was the coolest thing in the world; there is a lot missing in many Americans’ lives in terms of connection and community. What an innovative way to fill the need.
Eric’s work doesn’t stop there. His org also runs civic “collaboratories” to spur projects around the country, youth programs and more.
“Small acts. Small compromises. Small stands. Small choices that turn large tides. That’s what every nation’s culture is made of,” Eric writes. “The arguments in American politics are stupid in many ways: they’re stuck in a decaying two-party institutional framework: they fail to challenge foundational assumptions about capitalism or government: they center on symbolic proxy skirmishes instead of naming the underlying change: they focus excessively on style and surface.” Eric’s antidote is an army of engaged and empowered citizens improving their own communities and local governance. Substance instead of spectacle.
Talking to Eric, it was like the other end of the spectrum from what’s going on in Washington D.C. Can the people of this country take our futures into our own hands? He’s definitely right that that’s where leadership will come from. This week is the latest reminder that our elected leaders aren’t going to save us. We’re going to have to do it ourselves.
Check out Citizen University here for a host of tools; for Eric’s books click here. If you want to join us in fixing American politics, check out the Forward Party today!
2023
This week on the podcast I discuss the year ahead with Zach Graumann. A few big questions we discuss: will there be a recession? What’s going on in DC? How does the 2024 race shape up?
Hello, and Happy 2023!
As someone who screws up the date for the first two weeks of any New Year, it feels funny to be talking about 2023. Yet here we are!
This week on the podcast I discuss the year ahead with Zach Graumann. A few big questions we discuss: will there be a recession? What’s going on in DC? How does the 2024 race shape up? (I know, but expect a new Republican presidential candidate every month of this year through July) And what else do we see coming in the next 12 months?
Most important for Zach, he’s getting married this year! If you see him, tell him how lucky he is.
On to our thoughts for 2023:
I expect economic headwinds to be significant, including a recession this year. I talk to a number of CEOs and they are pulling back. Investors see a host of businesses that were designed for a low-interest rate/easy money environment that will have massive struggles now that money is tougher to come by. Friends in real estate see a gap between what values supposedly are and what people will pay now that mortgage rates are 6 – 8%. VCs still have capital to invest – some of it was allocated years ago – but they’re driving harder bargains and not chasing deals. Inflation is still hovering around 5%, which could spur further tightening.
It all looks like a transition year. Transitions are often painful. What does that mean for you? Feel free to see this as a year to get a little conservative with your decision-making and reduce risks. Opportunities will come.There’s a new Speaker of the House. And his name is . . . Kevin McCarthy we think? It’s up in the air because the Republican majority – with only 5 votes to spare – has yet to entirely coalesce around him or anyone else. It suggests a very muddy legislative environment where very little will get done.
Most people don’t understand just how much Congress is controlled by the party leaders at this point; one senior Congressperson said to me that the “average member who doesn’t have a gavel in his hand (running a committee) might as well be a piece of furniture.” What happens when the party with the majority won’t play ball with itself? Do some Republicans splinter off with moderate Democrats to form a coalition in the middle? It may genuinely be the only way to accomplish anything, even relatively routine legislative tasks. On that note . . .Kyrsten Sinema just declared herself an Independent. Joe Manchin – who is up for re-election in 2024 in a state that Trump won by 38 points – is noncommittal whether he will stay a Democrat. Lisa Murkowski just won re-election while endorsing the Democratic House candidate Mary Peltola, thanks largely to Alaska’s non-partisan primaries and ranked choice voting rules that make the parties less dominant. Could we see a fulcrum of Independent Senators that become necessary to pass anything in a 49-48-3 Senate? And what bills are even going to be up for Senate consideration from the Republican House?
On the Republican side for the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump’s launch has not gone well. I expect to see Chris Christie, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, Nikki Haley, Larry Hogan, Francis Suarez, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis, Tulsi Gabbard, and a few others declare for the White House by June. The first Republican debate will likely take place in August of this year with one a month through the end of the year. Voting starts in Iowa in February of ’24.
As you can see, you’re looking at 9 or 10 candidates off the bat – Zach puts the over/under at 15. Trump can still win just by hanging onto his base – he only got 35% of the vote in the early states in 2016. If the other candidates divide the vote he could still easily roll. He also still has control of most of the state parties, whose winner-takes-all delegate rules could help Trump a lot. The question is whether Trump genuinely has the energy to run a campaign for 14 months; he already seems tired and disinterested, and his social media shitposting is relegated to propping up Truth Social instead of driving narratives on Twitter. His act is old and stale and he doesn’t seem to have the mojo or motivation to conjure up a new one.
On the Democratic side, I expect Joe Biden to declare in the Spring and then other Democrats to fall in line. The DNC is shifting South Carolina to first which will inoculate Joe against any challengers. I also expect the DNC to shortcircuit any competition who might declare (e.g., Nina Turner, Marianne Williamson), similar to what the RNC did for Trump in 2020 when they canceled early state primaries, though not quite as egregious. Think canceling debates unless a competitor exceeds . . . 25% in polling, rising as necessary.
If Joe doesn’t run then a scrum will immediately emerge on the Democratic side. But at this point it’s going to be up to Joe. Yes, he’ll be 82 at the end of 2024.Will there be a third party challenge for the presidential in 2024? No Labels has already raised and spent millions to get ballot access. A lot will depend on who the nominees are or look to be. If it’s Joe vs. Trump the rematch then there almost certainly will be another candidate; 58% of Americans don’t like either of those choices. That decision may not happen until 2024 though, as the general election debates don’t occur until September ’24 and the Republican nominee won’t become clear until early that year.
These are some of the things on our minds for 2023; Zach and I also do a little foreshadowing of things we are working on in our convo. As you can tell, one of the themes for the year ahead is political dysfunction – if you’d like to help build a new alternative, check out what we are doing at Forward, which is growing every day. There’s a lot on tap for 2023, including municipal elections, ranked choice voting campaigns starting this month in CT, getting ballot access and more.
Fundamentally, how we do in the year ahead will be mostly up to us. Let’s take advantage of the chance to turn the page in our own lives, where it matters most. Hope 2023 is off to a tremendous start already for you and yours! Resolve to make it a great one!
Happy Holidays!
Hello, I hope that the holiday season is off to a wonderful start for you and yours!
Hello, I hope that the holiday season is off to a wonderful start for you and yours!
My parents immigrated to the States, but my Mom always took holiday season to heart and tried her best to create a warm family home. We celebrated Christmas every year with a tree that my brother and I decorated, stockings, and presents, with relatives often visiting for a big home-cooked dinner. If there was snow on the ground, my brother and I would go tobogganing down the local hill.
My parents had a habit of getting my brother and I the same presents each year – it was one way they tried to avoid any hint of favoritism. As a result, my brother and I would open our presents at the same time to avoid blowing the surprise for either one of us. It also probably reduced the quality of the presents – I remember getting a lot of sweaters.
One year, I was given a GI Joe helicopter toy by my parents – the Dragonfly. I was maybe 11 years old. There was some assembly required. I took a little knife from the kitchen and was freeing the pieces from the plastic in the living room. The knife slipped and I cut my left hand hard enough for it to start bleeding immediately. I jumped up and yelled, “Get a band-aid! Get a band-aid!” I was still at a point where I thought band-aids miraculously healed everything. My Mom, without missing a beat, took me to the bathroom and ran my hand under the sink, inspecting the cut, which turned out to be no big deal. She put on some Neosporin, a piece of gauze and a band-aid on top. In less than 5 minutes I was happily back on the floor putting my toy together again.
I associate this time of year with boardgames and family time.
As Evelyn and I have had kids of our own, we have tried to create the same sense of warmth and belonging and comfort for our boys. Neither of us has a big family, so there’s a bit of pressure involved. It has made me appreciate what my Mom did every year all the more.
Who or what are you grateful for?
I hope that you have the chance to spend time with those most important to you this Holiday Season, and that you help create some memories that will last a lifetime. Happy Holidays!
The Rules of Power
This week on the podcast I interview Jeffrey Pfeffer, one of the most popular and influential professors at Stanford who teaches a course called “Paths to Power.” He has written several books about how to advance professionally based on social science and evidence-based studies.
Hello, I hope that you’re doing great! Almost 1,000 people came to the Forward Webinar event last week – it was a phenomenal gathering. I also met with supporters in Philadelphia which was a lot of fun.
This week on the podcast I interview Jeffrey Pfeffer, one of the most popular and influential professors at Stanford who teaches a course called “Paths to Power.” He has written several books about how to advance professionally based on social science and evidence-based studies.
His latest book, “7 Rules of Power: Surprising-but True – Advice on How to Get Things Done and Advance Your Career” is a fascinating read. First, Jeffrey acknowledges that some people express mixed emotions about even learning about power and its acquisition. They find it ‘depressing’ or ‘dark.’ Jeffrey points out that research shows that health is related to a sense of control in one’s job or life, and that understanding how things work in organizations can actually make one happier and healthier. Jeff’s book opens with this quote: “If you want power to be used for good, more good people need to have power.”
He has a tip about how to approach this discussion: become less judgmental. “Judgment gets in the way of building helpful interpersonal relationships and sets us up for unhappiness, which is why eschewing judgment is so frequently recommended.” Pretty good words to live by.
The 7 Rules Jeff outlines in his book are:
Get out of your own way.
Break the rules.
Appear powerful.
Build a powerful brand.
Network relentlessly.
Use your power.
Success excuses almost everything you may have done to acquire power.
Some of these may seem intuitive. Others far less so. Jeff backs each up with studies and examples. One common belief is that “If I work hard, my work will speak for itself.” Unfortunately, that’s not how it works in many companies. Letting people know that you did something can sometimes be as important as doing it.
How can breaking the rules facilitate accruing power? One of the biggest unspoken rules out there is to not ask people for things; advice, money, time. Those who become comfortable asking for help can find themselves with new insight, relationships and resources. I remember when I started Venture for America; becoming comfortable asking for things was a huge part of the growth process.
Most people regard networking as painful. But it can simply mean keeping up with people and helping out where you can. Studies show that ‘weak ties’ – that is, people who are a little bit further out in your network that you don’t see often – are more useful than people you see all of the time, largely because they may be exposed to opportunities and information that you aren’t.
Indeed, connecting people actually ends up developing a stronger network, not the opposite. It's not, "I have connections, so I can ask people." It's, "I can ask people, so I have connections."
I grew up an introvert – I started putting myself out there more when I co-founded a company in my twenties because it felt necessary. The same was true when I started Venture for America; one of my staffers told me that speaking at conferences and promoting myself was going to be good for the organization. He wasn’t wrong. And then of course after I became a presidential candidate I had to adopt all sorts of new behaviors at the age of 43.
But I think some of the best training I got was throwing parties as a nightclub promoter in my twenties. I did it because I was living in a small apartment with a roommate, and it was a handy way to host a large gathering. Just putting your name on something and trying to get people to come is a valuable experience that I’ve drawn on many times. It doesn’t need to be big or world-changing; simply getting people together can lead to great things.
Perhaps one of the most compelling findings Jeffrey shares is that people with more of a collective orientation become more comfortable engaging in leadership behaviors when the gains are going to be used for the benefit of others. Sometimes, helping people means putting yourself out there. I think that’s a great message we can all appreciate.
Happy Holidays!
For Jeff’s book click here and for our podcast interview click here. To make a year-end donation to Forward click here. Asking is power! :)
Building Up
Kyrsten Sinema made headlines this past week in becoming an Independent. It wasn’t a total surprise to us. Arizona will be a big hotbed for Forward as a ballot initiative to shift to non-partisan primaries and Ranked Choice Voting (“Final Five Voting”) similar to Nevada’s is gearing up for 2024. The same is true in up to 5 other states.
Hello, I hope that your December is going well!
Kyrsten Sinema made headlines this past week in becoming an Independent. It wasn’t a total surprise to us. Arizona will be a big hotbed for Forward as a ballot initiative to shift to non-partisan primaries and Ranked Choice Voting (“Final Five Voting”) similar to Nevada’s is gearing up for 2024. The same is true in up to 5 other states.
Also this past week, a number of Forward state leads from Michigan, Florida, Connecticut, Arizona, and Utah gathered in New York City to help us improve our processes. It was phenomenal and inspiring to meet them – they are the people who will deliver change around the country.
They are not alone.
In Colorado, Forward state leaders are kicking off signature gathering for party status right now. Nevada will be filing a certificate this week to start a registration drive. Maine, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and others are similarly launching. We have already achieved minor party status in Texas thanks to the awesome state leads and volunteers there.
In Connecticut, the newly re-elected governor Ned Lamont recently endorsed Ranked Choice Voting and is expected to make it a top priority in his state-of-the-state address in January. Click here for an account of how this happened – it’s worth a read to understand the background. Forward Party leaders are set to support a legislative push to support legislation that should take place in Connecticut in February or March.
All over the country, we have big opportunities and a lot of work to do. Now that the midterms are behind us, we will focus on building up in states, getting on the ballot around the country, helping municipal candidates in 2023 and prepping for ballot initiatives.
I interview David Jolly, former member of Congress and head of the SAM Party on the podcast this week. As David puts it, "What we are seeing at Forward is this catalyzing of the movement . . . the success is in the organizing at the state level, where hundreds and thousands of people are signing up and saying, 'I want to do the things under state law that allow us to achieve ballot access, party recognition, that allow us to run candidates' . . . all of that happens without the notice of the pundits or the newspapers. That's where the success of the movement happens . . . people can go to their local Forward Party chapter and get involved and create the success . . . at Forward you have the people who are smart enough to take on the rigged system in a dozen different places and over time transform American politics."
How can you help? Join your state’s Forward Party here. Tell your friends that they can help. Donate to support our efforts or buy some merch. Sign up for one of the efforts described above. We have a bright path in front of us, but we need to roll up our sleeves and get stuff done.
Meeting some of the state leads was a blast – with them leading the way there’s no limit to what we can accomplish. But they need our help. Let’s build. Happy Holidays!
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Forward is holding a free webinar on Wednesday night with me, former NJ Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Miles Taylor and David Jolly. Then on Thursday I am heading to Philadelphia for an Ideas Festival run by the Philadelphia Citizen to talk about Forward. See you online or in Philly!
Mr. Ranked Choice Voting
A couple years ago, I was on a Zoom with a couple of activists who wanted to improve our democracy. I asked them, “Who is the most well-known, prominent advocate for ranked choice voting?”
Hello, I hope the Holiday Season is gearing up for you and yours!
A couple years ago, I was on a Zoom with a couple of activists who wanted to improve our democracy. I asked them, “Who is the most well-known, prominent advocate for ranked choice voting?”
They answered with two words: “Probably you.”
That answer stunned me. Really? That didn’t seem possible. But after I reflected I realized it might be true, simply because I was perhaps the most significant political figure who wasn’t beholden to either of the major parties. It’s hard for a Democratic or Republican political figure to be for Ranked Choice Voting simply because their party might take a different position on it as against their interests.
Indeed, last month when I was in Nevada campaigning for Question 3, people were showing me text messages from the Democratic Party saying “Vote No on Question 3, because it will be too confusing and cumbersome for people to vote.” Yes, that was their primary argument: choosing more than one candidate would be too confusing, despite copious real-life experience with Ranked Choice Voting that the vast majority of voters find it easy to use and want to use it again.
What’s the real reason? It loosens party control and gives voters more autonomy.
I realized months ago that most all of the solutions I proposed on the presidential trail would only happen if we had a system like Ranked Choice Voting that empowered voters to vote for whomever they want and allowed both new perspectives to emerge but also fostered a greater degree of accountability among elected officials. I wrote my book, “Forward” as what I hoped would be a thoroughly entertaining but well-researched argument for Ranked Choice Voting. RCV is obviously core to the Forward Party’s agenda.
(For a video explaining Ranked Choice Voting if you’re new to it, click here. It’s the bomb.)
Still, I’m a relative newbie when it comes to this reform mission. You know who the real Mr. RCV is? Rob Richie.
Rob, whom I interview on the podcast this week, is the co-founder and CEO of Fairvote, a non-profit organization that has been promoting Ranked Choice Voting for 30 years. Yes, that’s right, Rob was so far ahead of the curve he’s been arguing for this since 1992. He has made it his life’s work.
“I got started in the early 90’s in my 20s because I thought it would be important to have more choices in the presidential election. We were a tiny crew back then. We've come a long way and have been receiving a ton of new energy and support. It’s very exciting. RCV passed in 8 new cities and counties this Election Day, bringing it up to about 60. Our goal is 500 communities using RCV over the next few years.”
At the state level, RCV took a big leap forward when it was adopted by Maine in 2016. Explains Rob, “Maine had had 3 straight governors who won with less than 50% of the vote because of more than 2 candidates running. Eventually they said, ‘we should fix this system so the winner needs to get a majority’ and adopted RCV.” Alaska followed suit in 2020, which led to the results we saw this period with Sarah Palin losing, Mary Peltola winning, and Lisa Murkowski winning despite voting to impeach Trump.
Fairvote also helps colleges adopt Ranked Choice Voting for student council elections and organizations do the same. The theory is that if thousands of college students get used to RCV, they’ll think “Why isn’t this being adopted for all elections?” It’s pretty ingenious.
Rob sees RCV as a big piece of the puzzle, but is also excited about other ways for our democracy to advance and evolve. “We should have more than 435 members of Congress given how much our population has grown since 1910, when they capped the number. We are backing the Fair Representation Act, an act of Congress that would shift us to multi-member districts and would lead to a multi-party system. The great thing is it’s just a law – a simple majority of Congress could pass it.”
I was invited to join the Board of Fairvote Action last year and gladly agreed. I see Fairvote and Forward as allies in the same fight for a better system of governance that places people and voters first.
Though RCV has more momentum than it ever has, because Rob’s been at this for so long, he takes the long view. “There will be progress and stumbles, victories and pullbacks.” Hopefully, if enough of us make our voices heard, we’ll have a lot more wins than losses, as was the case in Nevada and other communities this November. Let’s keep the wins coming.
For my interview of Rob click here. Check out Fairvote and click here to sign up for the Forward Party in your area. Also 'Forward' is now out on paperback!
The Independent Voter
This week on the podcast I interview Jackie Salit, co-director of the Center for Independent and Sustainable Democracy at ASU and co-author of the new book, “The Independent Voter.”
In 2020, after doing a lot of reading and research, I concluded that the two-party system in the United States is failing and polarizing us and needs an upgrade via mechanisms like non-partisan primaries and ranked choice voting. You know who figured this out a long time before I did? Jackie.
Jackie has been a part of independent political movements since the 1980s and is the President of IndependentVoting.org. “I got involved during the Lenora Fulani Independent presidential campaign of 1988 – she was the first African American woman to get on the presidential ballot in all 50 states, as a third party candidate no less.”
Today, there are more Independents than ever according to polling – between 40 and 50% of Americans now self-identify as Independent or unaffiliated. Jackie writes that Independent Voters have several distinct purposes. First, they inject new ideas into the two major parties. Second, they swing and shape elections – they did so just this past month by leaning toward Democrats by 4 points, contrary to expectations. And third, they can be the bridge to a post-partisan less ideological political system.
Also interestingly – Independents tend to make those around them less extreme and more open to discussion and disagreement. Independents are less likely to end a friendship over a political argument, for example.
So, everyone must love Independents, right? Quite the contrary; both the media and academics tend to minimize their existence. “Pollsters often deny the existence of independents by categorizing voters based on which direction they leaned or voted in the past, and articles often claim that Independents are just closet partisans who don’t like to admit it. That’s what we’re looking to change – there’s actually a ton of interesting scholarship and study that can be done on who Independent voters are and what matters to us.”
Jackie writes: “The key to forestalling a move beyond the two parties is to ruthlessly enforce the power of party identification. How is this done? Through a complex matrix of laws, rules, and psychological and social messaging that the two-party system and a left-right ideology represent the totality of possibility.” That put a very fine point on it. It’s actually an uphill climb for Independents to make their voice heard in a system that tries to discourage it, even as this body of voters is necessary to win most any contested election.
Another observation that points out how unusually strong partisanship is in the U.S. – “the United States is the only democracy in the world that permits partisan contests for election officials. In other democracies, elections are run by independent commissions or agencies shielded from political influence.” This is common sense. We are the only country that thinks having a state’s Secretary of State who runs elections having to win an election representing one party or the other is a good way to go.
Jackie’s book concludes with a couple of very compelling arguments in addition to non-partisan primaries and ranked choice voting:
“No American should be required to join a political party or organization as a condition of voting.” Right now many Independents effectively can’t vote in the primaries that decide most elections. That’s against the spirit of democracy.
“No taxpayer dollars should be used for party business, including primaries, if the parties decide to hold them as a means of endorsing a candidate.” Similarly, asking Americans to pay for elections they might not be able to participate in doesn’t seem fair.
Fundamentally, you have the people, the parties and the country. Which wins out in the end? Any move to a post-partisan future starts with the recognition that the interests of people and the parties that claim to represent them aren’t always aligned. More Americans are waking up to this reality every day. Let’s speed it up.
I’m proud to say that Jackie is now a Board member of Forward Party! She’s been fighting for people and communities’ right to have a say in their own future for years. If you’d like to join us, check out Forward here.
We Need To Build
I spent part of this past week for Forward in Arizona, which I believe will be ground zero for democracy over the next two years. You probably know about the very closely contested race between Katie Hobbs and TV personality Kari Lake or the Senate race between Mark Kelly and Blake Masters.
Hello, I hope you and yours are ready for a great Thanksgiving holiday!
I spent part of this past week for Forward in Arizona, which I believe will be ground zero for democracy over the next two years. You probably know about the very closely contested race between Katie Hobbs and TV personality Kari Lake or the Senate race between Mark Kelly and Blake Masters. Arizona is set to be one of six swing states in 2024 – along with Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan – and many in AZ are concerned with the turn taken by the state Republican Party.
There are activists and leaders who would like to follow Nevada’s lead in running a ballot initiative in Arizona for nonpartisan primaries and ranked choice voting. Stay tuned.
Bigger picture though, imagine a coalition of several hundred thousand swing voters in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan who come together to fight for democracy reform in 2024. A bloc of voters like that could credibly swing the next presidential election given how polarized the country is; even 100,000 votes would have decided 4 of those 6 states in 2020. Forward is well-positioned to build such a coalition in the next two years.
On a related point, this week on the podcast I interview Eboo Patel, the Founder and President of Interfaith America and the author of the new book “We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy.” Eboo served on Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council.
Eboo is a movement and coalition builder. He has spent the last twenty years building a national organization to champion religious diversity in America. Eboo writes of the time in his twenties, fresh out of college, when he criticized the organizers of an interfaith gathering and said there should be more young people, action and variety. A woman placed her hand on his shoulder and said, “You should build that.” He joked during our podcast that he “felt like someone was calling his bluff.”
A major theme of Eboo’s book is that we have taught young people to criticize and point out the negative when what we need first and foremost is builders. “One of the things that strikes me about the fancy colleges . . . is that they are most likely to teach you a language of criticism and deconstruction, a language that encourages you to think of yourself as oppressed. I think this is a useful pair of glasses to put on from time to time, but it’s a terrible idea to do permanent surgery on your eyes such that you only see the bad things that happen to you. First of all, you are not oppressed. To use that word in reference to yourself [as an American college student] is to announce to the world that you utterly lack perspective. Most of the world would trade places with you in an instant.” This is particularly observant in a country where only the top 35% or so graduate from college; we are a nation primarily of high school graduates.
During our interview, Eboo says, “We make a mistake by separating everyone into the Wicked vs. the Wounded. Why is it that only certain types of people are allowed to be considered privileged? Most knowledge workers are among the privileged today. I want to fight bad things and ideas but you have to retain the right outlook. Islamophobia is wrong and worth fighting, but the beauty of Islam vastly transcends any Islamophobia.”
Many students today dislike fraternizing with people of different beliefs or politics, Eboo gives them this example: “Imagine you are a heart surgeon and you are scheduled to be part of a team of surgeons that is performing a life-saving operation. Let’s say you discover that one of the other surgeons or a nurse supporting the surgery disagrees with you on a political issue dear to your heart. Maybe that person voted differently in the last election and advertises it with a bumper sticker on her car. Do you refuse to do the heart surgery?” To date, not a single person has said they would walk out of the operating room. “I continue along the same path: what about a PTA? Or a volunteer fire department?”
“In a democracy you have to live with the people you defeat . . . telling someone else who they are – or more accurately, who you want them to be – is the height of presumptuousness.”
Eboo wants to form a big tent, the same way Forward does. “Purity tests are the enemy of broad-based movements . . .Instead of further cementing the current Us vs. Them, wouldn’t it be nice to create a wider sense of ‘Us?’ . . . the goal is not a more ferocious revolution; it is a more beautiful social order.” Eboo’s challenge is that to defeat the things we don’t like, we have to build the things we do.
With Forward; our democracy will either get an upgrade or become subject to some very negative actors and sentiments. We need to build the kind of democracy we would like to see. And we don’t have unlimited time.
To buy Eboo’s book click here. To check out Forward or make a donation click here. Happy Thanksgiving!
Trump is Back
Last night, as expected, Trump officially declared his 2024 campaign for the White House. It seems that most of America wants to move on from Trump, but that won’t happen unless someone defeats him or otherwise sends him offstage.
Last night, as expected, Trump officially declared his 2024 campaign for the White House. It seems that most of America wants to move on from Trump, but that won’t happen unless someone defeats him or otherwise sends him offstage.
Who will oppose him in the Republican field? His primary opponents are likely to include Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Larry Hogan, Mike Pompeo, Tulsi Gabbard, Francis Suarez, and a few others. The major variable is Ron DeSantis – I thought DeSantis would sit this cycle out based in part on what he was telling donors, but he might indeed run. DeSantis is going to be tied up with gubernatorial business until March of next year, when he could have a clearer picture for a decision. DeSantis strikes me as the greatest threat to Trump within the party in terms of money and grassroots support.
Have you seen Ron DeSantis speak? He is not the performer that Trump is. The fervor toward Ron has been generated largely by favorable media treatment.
The voting doesn’t start until February of 2024 – until then it’s money, speeches, polls, rallies and operations. Most other candidates will, I believe, have a hard time getting the attention and energy they need. Some candidates will feel pressure to get in early in order to try and stake out a lane. Others will prefer to wait to see if something changes.
On the Democratic side, Biden is already making moves for 2024 and has been emboldened by the midterms. I see him declaring early next year and clearing the field.
Trump is diminished by the midterms – and much of the media is determined to deny him - but he is still the favorite in my mind to win his party’s nomination. You can’t replace the grassroots energy he yet has with the bulk of the Republican base. And running against Trump remains a daunting experience for most; he wields grievance and anger like cudgels and his hostility evokes the same among his many followers.
To me, the most likely matchup for months has always been a rematch between Biden and Trump in 2024. The rematch no one wants is inching closer. Even as you and most Americans groan, the system will coalesce around these soon-to-be octogenarians until one or the other is unable to continue, or the system itself sees a change.
How will this Trump run end? I ran a Twitter poll last night. The results (13,000+ votes) were:
Drops out/fails – 15%
Loses in primary – 42%
Loses in general – 25%
Returns to White House – 18%
You can see any of these happening. You can put me in the camp as someone who thinks a second Trump term would be a catastrophe. Let’s do all we can to keep him out of the Oval Office. Don't underestimate him.